Policy & practice.(PRACTICE TRENDS)

Proposals Aim to Reduce Abortion

Democrats are taking on the abortion issue in the new Congress first by advocating prevention of unwanted pregnancies. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has reintroduced the Prevention First Act (S. 21), which would increase funding for the Title X national family planning program, expand Medicaid family planning services, and improve awareness of emergency contraception. The bill was also reintroduced in the House by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) as H.R. 463. The legislation had garnered 15 cosponsors in the Senate and 110 in the House at press time. Some conservative lawmakers have objected that the legislation supports proabortion counseling. In another proposal seeking to establish "common ground" on the abortion debate, Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), an abortion opponent, has reintroduced the Pregnant Women Support Act (S. 270) to increase funding for the Women, Infants and Children Program, fund home visits by nurses to poor pregnant women and first-time mothers, and eliminate pregnancy as a preexisting condition that health insurers can exclude from coverage.

Pap-Reading Exams Would Change

Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are seeking to change proficiency testing of pathologists and cytotechnologists who interpret Pap tests. Under the proposed regulation, candidates would have to assess 20 slides, instead of the current 10, in their initial test and all retests. But retesting would be expanded to a biennial instead of annual schedule. Missing two high-grade lesions or cancers on any test would result in automatic failure, but the CMS would require testing agencies to offer an appeals process. The proposed rule has been published in the Federal Register, and the agency will be accepting public comments until March 17. The changes are largely the result of recommendations from the HHS's Clinical Laboratory Improvement Advisory Committee.

Economy Hurts Elder-Care Plans

About 60% of women say that the current economic downturn is limiting their ability to plan for long-term care costs, according to a survey commissioned by America's Health ...