On June 12, 2017, President Trump named Norman Sharpless, MD, as director of National Cancer Institute (NCI). Sharpless, formerly the director of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina, is a practicing oncologist and cancer researcher. He will take over as for Doug Lowry, MD, who has been the NCI’s acting director since 2015.

Two members of the House of Representatives have put political party differences aside and introduced bipartisan legislation that requires health insurers to cover traditional chemotherapy, along with oral medications associated with cancer treatment. U.S. Representatives Leonard Lance (R-NJ) and Brian Higgins (D-NY) have proposed the Cancer Drug Parity Act (H.R. 1409). The intent of the bill is to ensure appropriate oncologic treatments are affordable and covered for patients with cancer.

Using secure text messaging for patient care orders is unacceptable, the Joint Commission concluded in January 2017.

There is a difference between campaigning and governing. Running for office is about putting out bold ideas and galvanizing a base of supporters who are energized by the opportunity for real change. It’s exhilarating and fluid. The momentum can be like a rock concert, and people are carried away with excitement about the future.

On March 15, 2017, the Trump administration released its first budget proposal, slashing federal spending in many areas of health care, education, environmental protection, and the sciences while increasing funding for defense and homeland security. The proposed budget would decrease spending for the Department of Health and Human Services by nearly 18%, which includes a 20% budget cut for the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—a decrease of nearly $6 billion. This stands to impact a number of cancer-related research programs developing new treatments and drugs through NIH funding.

To a crowd of more than 1,300 attendees at the South by Southwest Conference (SXSW) in Austin, TX, on March 12, 2017, former Vice President Joe Biden announced that the Biden Foundation, his new nonprofit organization, would be continuing the work of the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative, which he led during his final year as vice president.

Congressional champions are hard to find. Certainly, elected officials are eager to stand up for a variety of health, provider, and patient advocacy issues that pull at our heart strings. But to dig deep and find real solutions—that’s what’s found in the rare leaders who commit to arduous details.

As 2017 begins, ONS is hard at work supporting several new policies that could shape health care in the coming months and years. Although the election season has ended, ONS’s ongoing advocacy for oncology nurses and patients with cancer continues.

As the national presidential election approaches, a number of states will emerge as battleground states, in which the Democratic and Republican nominees for president have similar levels of support among voters. As follows, the winner of these states will win the election, making each vote extremely important.

In July, in an overwhelming bipartisan vote, the U.S .Congress passed the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), sending the bill to the president’s desk to be signed into law. With grant programs and community support initiatives, the bill will provide local authorities with resources to combat the opioid abuse epidemic. More than that though, the law is intended to change the way drug abuse is perceived.

On June 16, 2016, several members of the MedStar Georgetown University Hospital Nursing Health Care Advocacy and Legislation Council attended the "Preserving Chronic Pain Patients' Access to Medicine" roundtable discussion on Capitol Hill at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, DC.

Infused cancer drugs that are dosed according to patient weight are often available only in single-size vials. Many patients need only part of a second or third vial, and the remaining drug must be discarded. According to researchers, for the top 20 infused cancer drugs in the United States, this amounts to throwing away $1.8 billion in wasted medication.

There are three important issues that I’m following in this election year. The first is what political candidates—including in gubernatorial races—propose for continuing to improve healthcare coverage for people in the United States. Nurses need to hold electoral candidates and public officials accountable. If a presidential candidate promises to repeal the Affordable Care Act, we should be asking, “What will you replace it with?” At the state level, not all states adopted Medicaid expansion, but now some governors and gubernatorial candidates of states that did not opt into the expansion are considering it.

Acting U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in January to complete his tenure at the agency.

In a bipartisan move, Congress successfully passed the $1.15 trillion omnibus spending bill on December 18, 2015 along with a $680 billion tax package to finalize their 2016 budget, which will fund the government until September 30, 2016.