Partnership to Improve Patient Care: legislation explained!

Living With Cystic Fibrosis

Patient rights: do you know about the rights you have in regard to healthcare? There is a lot of information for you that Sara and Thayer serve to you here, in terms you can understand. They both work for the Partnership to Improve Patient Care, or PIPC (a coalition).

Sara Traigle van Geertruyden is the Executive Director at PIPC. Thayer Roberts is the Deputy Director. Sara, an attorney, joined PIPC in 2011 and serves at the firm, Thom Run Partners. Sara focuses policies to advance a patient centered health system, from patient engagement in research to driving outcomes that matter to patients in healthcare payment and delivery. Sara is a healthcare and welfare policy expert with over 25 years of experience, beginning her career on Capitol Hill working for former Senator John Breaux (D-LA) from 1996-2003, and later as an attorney at the law firm Patton Boggs. Thayer joined PIPC in 2019. Thayer works with PIPC’s diverse membership of patients, healthcare providers, researchers, and other groups to ensure that patient centricity is at the core of the nation’s health care system. Thayer has expertise in health care value assessments and their implications on patients and people with disabilities and continues to engage in this topic both at the Federal and State level.

Chair of PIPC: (From their website) Tony Coelho is a former United States congressman from California, and primary author and sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Tony was elected to Congress in 1978 and served for six terms until 1989. He served on the Agriculture, Interior, Veterans Affairs, and Administration Committees during his tenure, specializing in disabled rights. In 1986, Tony was elected House Majority Whip. As the chief vote counter for his party, Tony oversaw a series of Democratic victories in the House on measures ranging from the budget to cutting off funds for the war in Central America. Tony was the original author of the Americans with Disabilities Act, signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. By 1994, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that some 800,000 more people with severe disabilities had found employment than were employed when the bill was first enacted. Tony currently serves as the DNC Disability Council Chair, seeking to ensure that the political process is accessible to people with disabilities. President Bill Clinton appointed Tony to serve as Chairman of the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, a position he held from 1994 to 2001. He also served as Vice Chair of the National Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities. In 1998, Clinton appointed Tony as the United States Commissioner General at the 1998 World Expo in Portugal. Clinton also appointed Tony as Co-Chair to the U.S. Census Monitoring Board, a position he held until his appointment as general chairman of the Gore presidential campaign.

Sara and PIPC work with nonprofit organizations, like The Bonnell Foundation to help us to understand and keep track of all the legislation on the books, and coming down the pipeline.

To contact PIPC go to: https://www.pipcpatients.org

To find PIPC on social media check them out at: @PIPCpatients (on twitter and LinkedIn)

Another resource Sara and Thayer suggest: https://www.patientaccessproject.org

Acronym's used during this podcast:

Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB)

Rare Disease Advisory Council (RDAC)

National Association for State Health Policy (NASHP)

Institute for Economic and Clinical Review (ICER)

Equal Value of Life Year Gained (EVLYG)

HR 485 Protecting Healthcare for all Patients Act Read it here: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/485

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