Office of Government Relations

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Federal Relations Issues

I. Important Federal Issues for the 111th Congress: 

Healthcare Reform
The Healthcare Reform Bill was signed by President Obama in March 2010.  View UNMC's Health Care Reform website for helpful resources and other information. 

National Institutes of Health Funding
As the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research, the NIH (National Institutes of Health) was the source of more than 75% of UNMC’s total federal funding in the 2008 calendar year. Recent NIH annual funding has declined and failed to match biomedical inflation, resulting in fewer research proposals being funded. While project funding has fallen to 1 in 10 submissions, approval of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act and the FY2009 Omnibus Appropriations bills will begin to reverse that trend. NIH’s Institutional Development Award Program (IDeA) provides opportunities for higher education institutions in states that generally receive less funding, including Nebraska, to develop their infrastructure and better compete for NIH funds. UNMC supports increasing NIH research funding and the IDeA program.  View this document to see what UNMC is researching with federal funds.    

American Recovery & Reinvestment Act
In February 2009, the Congress passed legislation to create jobs, stimulate economic activity through infrastructure investment and to assist state and local governments in responding to the recession. More than $15 billion will be distributed toward research, including $10 billion for NIH research. Additional funds will be available on a competitive basis for research construction and equipment. UNMC is pursuing as much of the one-time funding as possible. 

Embryonic Stem Cell Legislation
On March 9, 2009, President Obama signed an executive order to lift the restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, and UNMC is monitoring changes to ensure compliance with Nebraska state laws. Obama's order will allow use of federal funds to access stem cell lines created after August 9, 2001, the day then-President Bush limited the use of federal dollars for embryonic stem cell research. 

Health Professions Education and Training (Title VII and VIII)
UNMC relies on Title VII (health professions) and Title VIII (nursing) funding from the Public Health Service Act to support educational programs that train professionals in health fields with shortages and to provide quality cost-effective care in areas of Nebraska most in need of health care services. For FY2009, the Omnibus Appropriations Act provided $222 million for Title VII, a $48 million, 14.3 percent increase over FY2008. Title VIII, which supports nursing grant programs, was increased $15 million (9.6 percent) in FY2009 to $171 million. UNMC will advocate for adequate funding Title VII and VIII funding in FY2010. 

Medicare and Medicaid
In the summer of 2008, Congress passed legislation that prevented a scheduled 10.6 percent cut in Medicare reimbursement payments to physicians and replaced it with a one-half percent increase through December 31, 2008. For calendar year 2009, the rate increased 1.1 percent. This temporary fix provides time for Congress to develop a permanent payment system that reimburses physicians fairly for their costs to treat Medicare patients and does not lead to reductions or eliminations of services for Medicare patients. UNMC will monitor this issue and encourage an equitable reimbursement as a permanent fix.