March 2012 “Hill Day” and Council of Chapter Representatives Meeting Notes

As part of “Hill Day” the Council of Chapter Representatives meant on March 28-29, 2012 in Washington, D.C.

The meeting began with a bus trip to the Rayburn House Office Building at 7 AM sharp on Wednesday. A breakfast meeting was held with presentations by one of the ATS lobbyists, Gary Ewart; Rep. Jim McDermott (D, WA), a former psychiatrist, on the Affordable Care Act (ACA); and representatives from the EPA and AMA.

Richard Robbins, Arizona CCR representative, and Ann Schneidman, RN from Hospice of the Valley, along with Dale Dirks from the ATS and Dr. Christine Fukui from Hawaii traveled to the Congressional offices. The group met with several representatives from the Arizona Congressional Delegation including:

• Rep. Ben Quayle (R-AZ-3) and Rachel Dresen, Rep. Quayle’s legislative director
• Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ-7) and Kelsey Mishkin, Rep. Grijalva’s legislative assistant
• Cassie Sonn, legislative assistant office of Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ-5)
• Judith Gheuens, health counsel to the office of Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
• Greg Kuhn, legislative correspondent office of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

Four issues were discussed and ATS handout on each was presented:

• Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) (click here for ATS handout)
• Clean Air Act (click here for ATS handout)
• Lung Disease Research Funding (click here for ATS handout)
• VA Research Funding (click here for ATS handout)

The Council of Chapter Representatives (CCR) met on Thursday, March 29. Nine attendees and 3 ATS staff were in attendance with one representative participating by conference call. The meeting was called to order at 9:00 AM by Dona Upson, Chair CCR.

The ATS President’s address was given by Nick Hill, ATS President 2011-2. His remarks included a discussion of ATS goals including the ATS’ new emphasis on advocacy.

An advocacy update was presented by Gary Ewart, ATS Government Relations.  

Eric Yeager, from Colorado, was selected for the ATS Outstanding Clinician Award for 2012. Our own Al Thomas was one of the finalists along with Mitchell Rashkin from Ohio.

CCR business discussions included:

• Committee Updates
• CCR Representatives on Committees for 2012-3
• A report from Dona Upson on the new requirements for recertification by the American Board of Internal Medicine (not yet announced) which will take effect on January, 2013. ATS is striving to meet those requirements beginning with the ATS 2012 International Meeting.
• Renaming of Wegner’s granulomatosis
• An announcement that it will shortly be possible for members to change their identifier information (telephone, address, e-mail, etc.) on the ATS website.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 AM.

Richard A. Robbins, MD

Arizona, CCR Representative

Reference as: Robbins RA. March 2012 "Hill Day" and Council of Chapter Representatives meeting notes. Southwest J Pulm Crit Care 2012;4:69-70. (Click here for PDF version)