2020-10-29 OMA Agenda - Board of Trustees

• June 22, 2020 Representatives Hastings (D-FL), Holding (R-NC), Watson-Coleman (D-NJ) and Roe (R-TN) letter (signed by 38 House members) to House leadership to include TROA in next pandemic relief package • June 26, 2020 OCAN comments to Senate HELP Committee Chair Lamar Alexander (R-TN) regarding his White Paper on “Preparing for the Next Pandemic.” • July 1, 2020 Senate TROA champions letter to CMS – urging CMS to use its administrative authority to implement TROA. • July 21, 2020 OCAN letter to House and Senate leadership on TROA inclusion in pandemic relief. • August 3, 2020 Obesity Care Continuum letter to congressional leadership on TROA and pandemic relief. COVID-19 Related Advocacy OMA Opposes Divisive Surprise Billing Legislation as Part of COVID Relief On July 29, 2020, the OMA signed on a letter to Congressional leaders that was organized by the American Medical Association and signed by 114 state medical societies and national specialty organizations opposing efforts to include surprise medical billing provisions in the new COVID-19 relief legislation under discussion in Congress. The letter makes the point that legislation to address the current public health emergency is not the appropriate vehicle or time to address this issue when agreement in significant outstanding issues surrounding surprise billing remains elusive. Obesity Care Continuum Groups Discuss Equitable Allocation of COVID-19 Vaccine During September, a number of Obesity Care Continuum member groups provided comments to the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) regarding its “Discussion Draft of the Preliminary Framework for Equitable Allocation of COVID-19 Vaccine.” OCC groups applauded NASEM for highlighting that “the principle of fairness includes the obligation to develop allocation criteria based only on relevant non-discriminatory characteristics, already noted under the principle of equal regard, to apply these criteria impartially, and to employ fair procedures in allocation and distribution” …and that “the principle of fairness here entails formulating criteria focused on individual, community, and social needs and risks, and vigilantly avoiding the sometimes conventional practices that create and sustain discrimination.” OCC groups also highlighted how “throughout the past decades, the prevalence of obesity has skyrocketed across our country. Despite this fact, many policymakers continue to view obesity as a lifestyle choice or personal failing. Others acknowledge that obesity is a chronic and complex disease but believe that all that’s needed is more robust prevention. However, this approach is not shared by our leading clinicians and scientists who focus on obesity who acknowledge the need for both prevention and treatment of this chronic disease. These perceptions and attitudes, coupled with bias and stigma, have resulted in health insurance plans taking vastly different approaches in determining what and how obesity treatment services are covered for their members.” OCC groups were “hopeful that NASEM’s strong work surrounding equitable allocation of a COVID-19 vaccine will also b e a signal to public and private health plans across the country about obesity and the significant role this disease plays in severe poor outcomes with COVID-19 and other obesity-related comorbidities. We must ensure that all individuals affected by obesity have access to and coverage of all evidenced based treatment avenues for obesity.”

STATE & REGIONAL ADVOCACY PRIORTIES State Advocacy Representative (STAR) Program

At the beginning of 2018, OMA announced the establishment of a new State Advocacy Representative (STAR) Program. The goal of the STAR Program is to support and communicate the mission and goals of OMA before state legislatures and regulatory agencies. Status: While the pandemic has tremendously slowed down advocacy efforts at the state level, the OMA Advocacy Committee continues to bolster its STAR program. Most recently, OMA staff surveyed every member of the OMA STAR program to determine their continued enthusiasm and interest in continuing in the program. These efforts have resulted in a number of vacancies across the country that the Advocacy Committee is working toward filling by the end of 2020. There are currently more than 35 states with an OMA STAR.