NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY

Budget/Appropriations

Supporting the following funding levels in FY25 appropriations bills: LHHS- $500 million for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, $11.5 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (inclusive of $5 million for the National Neurological Conditions Surveillance System), $20 million for the Lifespan Respite Care Program, Robust support for Medicare and Medicaid and protection of Medicaid's current financing structure, $51.3 billion for the National Institutes of Health, and at least $ 53.85 billion for the Indian Health Service. DoD- $20 million for the MS Research Program and increased baseline funding of at least 5% plus inflation for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs. U.S. SENATE, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ), Centers For Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Defense - Dept of (DOD), Food & Drug Administration (FDA), Veterans Affairs - Dept of (VA), Natl Institutes of Health (NIH)

TargetedSENATE · HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES · Defense, Dept of (DOD) · Veterans Affairs, Dept of (VA) · Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ) · Centers For Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) · Food & Drug Administration (FDA) · Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) · Indian Health Service · Natl Institutes of Health (NIH)

Health Issues

S.652 - Safe Step Act (Murkowski/Hassan), support passage H.R. 830 - HELP Copays Act, support passage S.935- Fair Accountability and Innovative Research Drug Pricing Act of 2023, support passage H.R. 485, Protecting Health Care For All Patients Act, oppose passage as currently written S.127, the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Act, support passage Urged HELP and House Energy and Commerce Committee to hold roundtables and advance proposals that address workforce issues within the healthcare community. S. 2333 - Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Response Act, support passage H.R. 824, Telehealth Benefit Expansion for Workers Act of 2023, oppose passage H.R. 4421, Preparing for All Hazards and Pathogens Reauthorization Act, monitor legislation H.R. 4420, Preparedness and Response Reauthorization Act, monitor legislation Committee Draft -The Primary Care and Health Workforce Expansion Act, support passage S. 1339, the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Reform Act, support passage S.127, the PBM Transparency Act of 2023, support passage S.113, The Prescription Pricing for the People Act of 2023, support passage S.2052, Protect Patient Access to Pharmacies Act H.R. 3561, the PATIENT Act of 2023, support passage H.R. 3284, Providers and Payers Compete Act, support passage H.R. 4507, Transparency in Coverage Act, support passage H.R. 4508, Hidden Fee Disclosure Act, support passage H.R. 2816, PBM Sunshine and Accountability Act, support passage S.79- Interagency Patent Coordination and Improvement Act of 2023, support passage S. 142- Preserve Access to Affordable Generics and Biosimilars Act, support passage S.148- Stop STALLING Act, support passage S.150- Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act of 2023, support passage S.775-Increasing Transparency in Generic Drug Applications Act, monitoring S.1067-Ensuring Timely Access to Generics Act of 2023, support passage S. 2780 Medication Affordability and Patent Integrity Ac H.R. 4189, the CONNECT for Health Act, support passage H.R. 1843, the Telehealth Expansion Act, support passage H.R. 8018, the Alleviating Barriers for Caregivers Act, support passage S. 3109, the Alleviating Barriers for Caregivers Act, support passage H.R.6302, the Health Share Transparency Act of 2023 Joined together with coalition allies to offer recommendations for the 2026 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters (NBPP), as well as future rulemaking, to advance the goals of making healthcare accessible, adequate, and affordable. Joined together with coalition allies to advocate to the federal government, including HHS and CMS, to ensure that any revision of the cost-sharing rule related to copay accumulator adjustment policies includes clear, commonsense protections guaranteeing that copayments made by or on behalf of an enrollee are counted as payments toward their annual cost-sharing contributions.