August 22, 2006 - Plans are underway to make the fourth annual National IPF Awareness Week a success, including three full days of meetings on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Representing IPF patients nationwide and the 10,000+ CPF members, will be 17 IPF patients, family members, partner organization members, medical experts and CPF staffers. They will meet with members of the House and Senate regarding important legislation and issues that affect CPF members and to help raise the awareness of IPF and the needs of the IPF community on Capitol Hill. In addition, they will be meeting with a representative from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) who will speak to them about the latest federal efforts underway in IPF research and what we can expect from the NIH in the fight to find viable treatments and ultimately a cure for IPF.

The IPF Awareness Week delegates will meet with members of Congress on legislative priorities including:

• Ending the Medicare 24-month waiting period for IPF patients
• Supporting the Home Oxygen Patient Protection Act (HR 5513) that would protect patients' interests with respect to oxygen and oxygen equipment
• Supporting The Access to Medicare Imaging Act (S 3795) that would provide a two-year delay on the enactment of a provision slipped into a budget savings bill (PL 109-171)
• Support of Rare/Orphan Disease research, particularly IPF research
• Support of Patients Traveling with Oxygen