Thank you to everyone who participated in advocacy in 2015. You have each played an important role in bringing about policy changes that help save and improve the lives of kids and adults living with muscular dystrophy, ALS and related muscle-debilitating diseases.  Through thousands of letters and emails to your members of Congress, in-person meetings with lawmakers in Washington D.C. and in district offices, and spreading the word about issues that are important to our community through your social networks and personal relationships, your voices have helped impact public policy.

In 2015, your advocacy efforts have helped ensure that people living with neuromuscular and rare diseases maintain access to clinical trials without losing their Medicaid coverage through passage of the Ensuring Access to Clinical Trials Act (Public Law No. 114-63). Your collective efforts also helped secure the largest funding boost to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in more than a decade, which means more federal funding for essential biomedical research into treatments and cures. Your actions have also helped make possible a 12-month delay in proposed cuts to the Medicare program that would compromise access to many complex wheelchair accessories, which are critical to maintaining independence and mobility for those who rely upon them.

These are just a few of the ways in which you have made a difference this year and there will be many more opportunities to engage in 2016. MDA looks forward to continuing our work together to ensure that our collective voice is heard in Washington, D.C.