ASCLS - IDAHO
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Legislative Affairs
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The Laboratory Coalition supports updating the specimen collection fee to $6.04, which is what the fee would be if adjusted just to keep up with inflation. The proposal would also include an automatic annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation update. A bill proposing this increase was introduced as stand-alone legislation in 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2007, by Rep. Phil English (R-Pa.), but none of the bills received a hearing. It is felt that including the language in the proposed fee schedule modernization might be a more successful way to get this passed.
A second issue we spoke with legislators about is the laboratory personnel shortage. We asked that the Idaho delegation 1) support reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) with provisions that support laboratory personnel training, and 2) that Congress appropriate $125 million dollars for the Career Pathways Innovation Fund (CPIF), formerly the Community-Based Job Training Grants, program for FY2011. A reauthorized Workforce Investment Act can provide jobs and stabilize the nations’ clinical education and training programs, and help fill job vacancies in laboratory medicine. The CPIF enhances educational institutions’ capacity to train workers in high-demand, high-growth industries, by bringing together community colleges, local businesses, and the federal workforce investment systems to meet training needs for industries such as health care.
According to U. S. News & World Report (December 28, 2009), clinical lab technicians and technologists are considered to be among the top 50 careers for 2010. In a similar survey commissioned by Careercast.com and reported in the January 5, 2010 Wall Street Journal, medical technology careers ranked 30th in the list of Top 200 Jobs of 2010, while laboratory technicians ranked 37th. This information was used to document the need for additional funds to support the education and training of clinical laboratory personnel.
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