Date: 1 May 2003

To: Friends of APF

From: Edgar E. Rivas, Director of Government Affairs

Re: HR 1863, National Pain Care Policy Act of 2003

On Tuesday, April 29, Congressman Mike Rogers (R-MI) introduced H.R. 1863, the National Pain Care Policy Act of 2003 in the House of Representatives. The bill is an exceptional step toward gaining federal recognition of the importance of pain as a critical and unanswered health care problem in our nation. However, we still have plenty to do before this bill becomes law, not the least of which is getting similar legislation introduced in the Senate.

HR 1863 is the first comprehensive legislation with a multidisciplinary approach. It was introduced in response to the Congressionally declared Decade of Pain Research, which started in January 2001. The fact that this bill addresses research, professional education and training, public awareness, treatment in specific federal heath care plans, and seeks White House support for pain care lays a strong foundation for confronting this crisis that costs our economy between $80 and $100 billion each year.

Over the past eighteen months, APF has been working collaboratively with the Pain Care Coalition (PCC) to develop a comprehensive pain care bill. Representative Rogers’ bill incorporates many of our positions, although is not as comprehensive as our combined legislative ideas. This bill also reflects many of the suggestions we’ve collected over time from conversations with numerous groups representing health care providers, consumers, disease-specific organizations and others. APF wishes to thank the PCC for their early efforts in drafting this legislation.

It is our understanding that Representative Rogers is now in the process of gathering support from his colleagues for the bill and is looking for cosponsors of the legislation. Please review the following summary of the provisions of this legislation. To view the latest available version of H.R. 1863, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/ and enter "HR 1863" in the search field. For those of you inclined to take action at this time, included is a sample letter that could be used to write your Members of Congress to request her/his support as a cosponsor for H.R. 1863. Also included are talking points for conversations about pain in their offices. 

Thank you.

To read more:

Read The Summary
Read The Full Text
Talking Points on Pain
Take Action!

Posted May, 2003