ASTRO applauds nominations of Tom Price and Seema Verma to top federal health posts
ARLINGTON, Va., November 29, 2016 – The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) today expressed its support for the nominations of Tom Price, MD, as Health and Human Services (HHS) Department Secretary and Seema Verma as Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator. ASTRO Chair David C. Beyer, MD, FASTRO, issued the following statement:
“ASTRO congratulates Dr. Tom Price on his nomination to serve as HHS Secretary. We believe Dr. Price's experience and expertise as a physician will be critical in addressing the health care challenges faced by patients and health professionals. ASTRO greatly appreciates Dr. Price's leadership in Congress to protect access to high quality radiation oncology care for cancer patients. We are eager to collaborate with him to ensure stability and predictability for radiation oncology in Medicare and other federal health care programs, including cancer research at the National Institutes of Health.
Likewise, we commend the nomination of Seema Verma as CMS Administrator. We look forward to working with her on the implementation of the new Medicare physician payment system and other critical policies affecting cancer patients and radiation oncology."
For more information, contact Liz Gardner, Media Relations Manager, at 703-286-1600 or liz.gardner@astro.org, or Leah Kerkman Fogarty, Communications Manager, at 703-839-7336 or leah.fogarty@astro.org.
ABOUT ASTRO
ASTRO is the premier radiation oncology society in the world, with more than 10,000 members who are physicians, nurses, biologists, physicists, radiation therapists, dosimetrists and other health care professionals that specialize in treating patients with radiation therapies. As the leading organization in radiation oncology, the Society is dedicated to improving patient care through professional education and training, support for clinical practice and health policy standards, advancement of science and research, and advocacy. ASTRO publishes three medical journals, International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics (www.redjournal.org), Practical Radiation Oncology (www.practicalradonc.org) and Advances in Radiation Oncology (www.advancesradonc.org); developed and maintains an extensive patient website, RT Answers (www.rtanswers.org); and created the Radiation Oncology Institute (www.roinstitute.org), a nonprofit foundation to support research and education efforts around the world that enhance and confirm the critical role of radiation therapy in improving cancer treatment. To learn more about ASTRO, visit www.astro.org.
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