2021-09-22 OMA Agenda - Board of Trustees

Advocacy Update for OMA Board of Trustees September 3, 2021

Federal Advocacy Treat and Reduce Obesity Act

We continue to aggressively advocate for passage of the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act (TROA) – especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and clear data linking obesity to severe outcomes for COVID-19. While this legislation has now been introduced in a 5 th consecutive Congress, we are hopeful for a number of reasons. • Support for TROA has now reached 100 members of Congress! • Obesity being recognized only behind old age as leading risk factor for severe outcomes from COVID • Former House GOP TROA lead Brett Guthrie (R-KY) is now the Ranking Member of the House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee and joins E&C Health Subcommittee Chair Anna Eshoo (D-CA) as former cosponsors of TROA. Given this Committee has shared jurisdiction over TROA, this should help secure a hearing and movement on the legislation. • We are currently supporting the new “Obesity Care Now” campaign to educate people about the dangers of obesity and to call on Congress and the Biden administration to follow the science and provide treatment options for the growing number of Americans living with obesity who lack access to comprehensive care. Through this campaign, we have identified numerous healthcare professional and patient advocates who have published op-eds in local newspapers and conducted media interviews to apply pressure on key legislators to support and pass TROA. • We continue to reach out to leaders in the Congressional Tri-Caucus (Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus) to become more active on the legislation from the angle of health disparities and minority health. These efforts included coordinating a congressional webinar during Obesity Care Week, entitled “Obesity Care, COVID- 19 and Communities of Color” that focused on TROA and featured obesity medicine specialist and AMA Minority Affairs Section Chair Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford. • I coordinated and participated in three separate meetings over the summer between OCAN leaders and CMS staff (Part B and Part D Coverage Groups) as well as a meeting with Dr. Meena Seshamani, Deputy Administrator and Director of CMS’ Center for Medicare. While Dr. Seshamani and her staff were sympathetic to our calls for coverage, they continue to indicate that the agency’s hands are tied because of the current Medicare statutory language “prohibiting coverage of drugs for weight loss.” • I coordinated several meetings with the key healthcare committees (Senate Finance, House Ways and Means, and House Energy and Commerce Committee offices) – pushing for support of TROA and its inclusion in the pending human infrastructure package being moved through Congress as part of the reconciliation process. • I helped draft OCAN’s July 6, 2021, comments in response to the Office of Management and Budget’s RFI on Methods and Leading Practices for Advancing Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through Government.