Fifteen nonpartisan patient and provider groups representing millions of Americans issued the following statement on July 17 on the Senate’s proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
This week, MDA joined with nine other patient advocacy organizations – including American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, March of Dimes and National Organization for Rare Disorders – to respond to the Senate’s newly-released draft of the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA).
The U.S. Senate introduced its health care reform bill that sets out changes to modify health care coverage of people across the country, including MDA families.
At the end of 2016 we asked the MDA community about their experiences with air travel. We received more than 2,000 responses. This is what we found.
Air travel is essential to being able to live, work or go to school where you choose—and can determine whether someone can see a specialty provider or participate in a clinical trial that is far from home. MDA believes accessto air travel is essential to living unlimited. That’s why we’re working with policy makers, federal agencies, industry, and other advocacy and disability rights organizations to help improve access to air travel for MDA families.
MDA remains committed to sharing with Congress and the Administration the many reasons why increased funding is critical to developing therapies for neuromuscular disease.
Spending time in our nation’s capital with dozens of other MDA families gave me a new sense of empowerment and taught me to apply a skill I’ve already honed in my personal life to the public policy arena. It was inspiring and exciting to see so many people come together in one place to do our part in making this country a better place for people who live with muscle-debilitating diseases.
Today the House passed the AHCA, which contains provisions that will impact the health care coverage of individuals and families that MDA serves.
A delegation of dozens of MDA advocates from 23 states visited more than 100 congressional offices on Capitol Hill earlier this week to speak to their representatives about the importance of programs and policies that help accelerate the development of treatments and cures for individuals and families living with muscular dystrophy, ALS and related neuromuscular diseases.
In advance of MDA’s first ever Advocacy Conference, taking place April 23-25, we asked several advocates to unpack the idea of advocacy: what is it, why they became advocates and why it is necessary for others to follow their examples. Their responses follow.
