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Inside This Issue:
DATIA Makes Recommedations to Major League Baseball on Effective Drug Testing
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Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) have come under intense scrutiny lately after it was confirmed that several record-holding baseball players used steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs that are banned in the sport. This is not the first time the sport has had a major drug scandal leading players and owners to re-consider their drug testing options.
In 1983, as many as 20 players from nine teams were implicated in a cocaine scandal, leading to federal prison terms for four Kansas City Royals players. In the aftermath, the owners and players reached an agreement on reasonable-cause testing for cocaine--marijuana, amphetamines, and alcohol were excluded. Unable to reach a formal deal with the players union, the owners dismissed the policy in 1985.
Since that time, the only way a team could find or punish a drug-using player was if that person was arrested on drug charges. Several high-profile players--Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, and Steve Howe--were in and out of rehab, and in trouble with the law, but their teams could not test them.
The 2002 agreement between the MLB and MLBPA agreed to the sport's first mandatory drug testing program. At the time, DATIA made recommendations on the implementation of an effective drug testing program. The policy they adopted, however, was for anonymous and penalty-free testing in 2003; if more than 5 percent tested positive, a policy with penalties and disclosure of names would be implemented for 2004 and 2005. Five to seven percent tested positive in that first year, and baseball moved to the tougher phase.
As players testified to steroid and other drug use during the trial of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-op (BALCO), outcry from the public, players, and owners have forced the league and the players union to re-open their collective bargaining agreement early, and toughen their drug-testing programs.
DATIA offered recommendations to the league and the union on how to adopt a fair, consistent, and effective testing program for performance-enhancing drugs and drugs of abuse. In a letter to baseball commissioner Bud Selig and union executive Donald Fehr, DATIA also offered to help them develop the program using industry standards.
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DATIA highlighted for Messrs. Selig and Fehr some issues that must be addressed in formulating a drug testing program that is comprehensive, consistent, and fair, and will be a truly effective and credible testing program.
1. First and foremost, a credible drug-testing program must include random, unannounced testing throughout the year (i.e., during spring training, the regular season, and the off-season).
2. Testing players during the off-season is crucial to a comprehensive program. Even if the final testing program includes random, unannounced drug testing throughout the playing season, the lack of testing in the off-season will be a huge void in the program.
3. The collection and testing process must be conducted using industry-recognized standards, including utilizing trained personnel for collections, a qualified laboratory and/or FDA-approved testing device to perform the testing, and having all confirmed positive tests reviewed by a trained Medical Review Officer.
4. The testing process should include testing for adulterants and masking agents.
In a December 16 editorial, Senator Joe Biden of Delaware reiterated DATIA's concerns, urging baseball to include year-round random testing, and tests for masking agents, as part of their drug-testing program. Both Senator Biden and Arizona Senator John McCain have threatened legislative action if baseball does not institute tougher policies against illegal and banned drugs.
The full text of the letter with DATIA's recommendations can be found at www.datia.org. |
Selling Your Services to Prospects by Jon Vogler of Houston Medical Testing Services
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What is the difference between a successful third-party administrator/collection company and an unsuccessful one? Does your business fulfill its financial potential? Does your company make all the income that it is capable of earning? These are important questions that each of us in the drug and alcohol testing industry need to ask ourselves every day and attempt to arrive at the best possible answers. Perhaps with a few suggestions and food for thought, your 2005 business will improve over 2004. Do not wait for the U.S. economy to improve; you need to make it happen yourself.
Selling your services to prospects is one of the most important job functions that you and your employees can perform each day. We strive each day to sell our company's services, so here are a few ideas to provide some food for thought.
1). Place a very high value on your association with DATIA. Place DATIA logos on your letterhead, invoices, and test results. This will remind your customers that you are professionals in your industry. If you are Accredited by DATIA, make this known. Each of our written presentations to prospects has a line something like, “an Accredited Member is like having a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) doing your bookkeeping. You know that the CPA has the professional qualifications and training to do the job right, and we are no different than the CPA.” Also, stress that your employees are Certified Professional Collectors and are tested and re-certified each year. If your firm is not an Accredited member of DATIA, you need to take advantage of DATIA's educational opportunities, as I can guarantee you that your company will financially benefit from your DATIA association and accreditation.
2). If you do not have a company website, by all means get one right away. There is not a day that goes by that our firm does not receive qualified inquiries from prospects. The computer age is here; join it! The inquiry may be from a mom seeking information about a hair or urine test for a teenage child, or a corporate HR manager looking to implement a drug testing program. In our own company, we do no advertising other than a Yellow Page advertisement, but instead rely very heavily upon our website, and we know from our own experience that the initial $2,500 spent to develop the website has been the best investment we ever made. I suggest that you too hire a professional website developer to come up with something high quality.
3). This may sound crazy, but your competitors are NOT your enemies. Try to develop good relationships with your competition. Our industry is one where cooperation can pay off and everybody wins. We do specimen collections every day for our competition and they do collections for us because of our respective geographic locations. This arrangement gives us complete coverage in the market so we can conveniently serve a client in any location around the market area. Of course, you should have agreements with the competition not to solicit your clients, but any other prospect in the market is fair game. The system works extremely well and you may actually get referrals from your competition that cannot properly serve a prospect they may have.
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4). If you do not operate a consortium, then develop one. A transportation consortium, for example, is very feasible to develop and manage. There is a tremendous prospective client base out there, all the way from one-man trucking companies to much larger operations. Again, get with your competitor who may have an FAA consortium and trade referrals; believe me, it works well. Too, the DATIA NAADATP course and designation is an excellent addition to your firm's credentials and certainly presents an element of professionalism of your firm to prospects.
5). Make sure your pricing is attractive to prospects. We have all found that there are some collection sites that want to charge very high prices for their services, as well as a few sites that try to undercut the market and charge ridiculously low prices. Yes, we all want to make as much money as possible, but on one hand, if the pricing is too high, then you will not do much volume because you discourage other TPAs and collectors and prospective clients from using your services. If your pricing is too low, then you cannot afford to provide the quality of service that the typical client deserves and demands and thus your business will suffer. I suggest that you should constantly survey the competition and charge somewhere in the middle of the market. Most prospects recognize the old adage, “you get what you pay for,” but again, they do not want to pay too much. Go for volume as your company will be much more successful in the long run.
6). You probably have heard the old saying, “out of sight, out of mind.” Nothing could be truer. Too often, we all get busy and do not stay in direct touch enough with our clients. Develop a one-page newsletter or information sheet about a relevant topic to include with your invoices. This gives your client interesting information, and is seen as a value-added benefit. Right here during the festive season you can thank them for their business the previous year, wish them well for the New Year, and take the opportunity to solicit any questions and comments about the service provided to them. Even routinely send an email with a one or two sentence personal note, just to stay in touch. Do anything to keep your name in front of the client.
Selling one's services never ceases. It is something that each of us needs to do every day in order to remain competitive and financially successful.
JON VOGLER is vice president of Houston Medical Testing Services, Inc., located in Houston, Texas. HMTS is a 15-year-old DATIA Charter Member and Accredited Member. HMTS is a Regional Third-Party Administrator/Collector with national coverage in 43 states. |
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DOT Issues an Interim Final Rule Regarding Specimen Validity Testing
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The Department of Transportation (DOT) issued an interim final rule in November that amends drug and alcohol testing procedures for laboratories and medical review officers (MRO), making DOT criteria for specimen validity testing (SVT) consistent with the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) new guidelines on SVT that became effective November 1, 2004.
The DOT rule became effective November 9, 2004, but the public comment period was open through December 9, 2004. Subscribers of DATIA's Red Book guide to federal drug and alcohol testing rules have already received this update.
CHANGES
MROs will now provide medical review and verification for all laboratory-reported substitute specimen results, rather than providing medical review for some and direct-observation recollection for others. Under the new HHS guidelines, there are no specimens with creatinine levels ≥ 2 mg/dL that will be considered substituted. In the same vein, all references in Part 40 to substituted specimens having creatinine levels ≥ 2 mg/dL have been removed.
DOT lab testing criteria has also changed to mirror the HHS guidelines. A urine specimen is now considered to be dilute when the creatinine concentration is ≥ 2 mg/dL, but ≤ 20 mg/dL, and the specific gravity is > 1.0010, but < 1.0030. (Previous urine specimens were considered dilute when the creatinine concentration was ≥ 5 mg/dL, but ≤ 20 mg/dL, and the specific gravity was > 1.001, but < 1.003).
Section 40.91 is changed to direct labs to perform validity tests for oxidizing adulterants and additional validity tests when certain conditions (e.g., abnormal physical characteristics) are observed.
The new rule also changed lab-reporting requirements, making them parallel to the new HHS reporting requirements except for the results of negative-dilute specimen results.
WHERE HHS and DOT DIFFER
DOT maintains that SVT is authorized, but not required. Section 40.89 did not change, but labs that conduct SVT are authorized to continue doing so and must follow the new HHS testing requirements.
MRO procedures in section 40.155 now require MROs to treat lab-reported negative-dilute results with the creatinine concentration ≥ 2 mg/dL, but ≤ 5 mg/dL as negative-dilutes that require immediate recollections under direct observation. Employers' obligations under sections 40.197(b) and (c) did not change.
To help MROs with the new responsibilities, labs are now required to report numerical values for creatinine concentration and specific gravity on negative-dilute specimens reported to MROs.
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DATIA'S COMMENTS
DATIA feels that bringing Part 40 in line with the recent HHS Mandatory Guidelines is a positive move for employers, C/TPAs, MROs, and laboratories. Having two sets of regulations and guidelines that aren't in line with one another would simply be too confusing and possibly lead to error in the testing and reporting processes. Amending Part 40 to reflect HHS' guidelines ensures that everybody involved in HHS and DOT-mandated drug testing is working from one set of regulations.
DATIA does, however, see the following problem with the Interim Final Rule as written.
Throughout the rulemaking, DOT states that they are making SVT “consistent” with HHS guidelines, but that is not truly the case.
This rule did make the CRITERIA consistent with HHS, but did not make the REQUIREMENT consistent. DATIA suggested to DOT that this difference should be further emphasized in the final rule to avoid confusion. SVT was mandatory in the Part 40 regulations issued in 2000, however this requirement was retracted in 2001. We strongly believe that the requirement needs to be re-established for consistency.
LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE
The interim final rule also suggested that a future Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would be issued “in the near future” that will further address the HHS changes, possibly making Specimen Validity Testing mandatory. DATIA encouraged the DOT to issue this NPRM as soon as possible, and will keep members apprised of any developments with this issue.
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New in 2005: Medical Review Officer Assistant Training
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DATIA has exciting plans for 2005! In addition to celebrating ten years of serving the drug and alcohol testing industry, DATIA has several new educational opportunities that we'll unveil this year.
One of them is a new training course for Medical Review Officer (MRO) assistants. Based on member feedback, we identified this as an area of the drug and alcohol testing industry in need of standardized training. The MRO assistant training course will debut at the DATIA Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, in May.
DATIA sent a Request for Proposals for course content to our membership and received several outstanding proposals. The proposals were sent anonymously to the board of directors, who voted on which had the most relevant content. The proposal that was chosen as most relevant was submitted by the board's own Sandra Vanderploeg,
Ms. Vanderploeg is president of Interactive Medical Connections in Houston, Texas, which focuses on providing substance abuse prevention programs for all types of businesses. Their drug and alcohol testing services encompass both Department of Transportation (DOT) and non-regulated programs.
The new course includes comprehensive training in industry standards, the specimen collection process, the role of drug testing labs, history of MROs, and the MRO assistant's role. The full agenda is below; look for a more detailed description on the DATIA website.
MRO Assistant Course Agenda
I. Background Information and Introduction to the Industry
II. Descriptions of the Roles of Employers, DERs, TPAs, Labs, and More
III. The Specimen Collection Process
IV. Drug Testing Labs
V. Historical Perspective on the MRO Role
VI. Regulatory Requirements for MROs and Assistants
VII. Value of the MRO Assistant Position
VIII. Industry Standards for MRO Assistants
IX. Demands of the MRO Assistant
X. MRO Assistant Methodology
XI. Practical Hints for the MRO Assistant
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In addition to providing background and helpful hints, this course will detail what the MRO assistant can and cannot do, plus provide “how to” standards for common situations, such as:
•Best ways to communicate with a donor (including angry donors, foreign-language donors, and rude or harassing donors)
•How to deal with collection sites
•How to document donor communications
•How to deal with someone who wants you to “bend the rules”
DATIA is excited to continue furthering industry standards by offering this new training. Be sure to check out the current schedule of DATIA courses on page 12 and keep an eye out for future editions of the DATIA newsletter for announcements about other new training opportunities coming your way in 2005!
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Annual Conference Spotlight: Calvina Faye
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In 2005 DATIA celebrates ten years of serving the drug and alcohol testing industry. As such, the DATIA Annual Conference and Exposition is the perfect opportunity for drug and alcohol testing leaders to come together, remember where we've been, celebrate what we've accomplished, and plan a course for the industry's future.
To help us accomplish that task, DATIA is excited to welcome Calvina Fay as a featured speaker at the annual conference. Ms. Fay is the executive director of Drug Free America Foundation and Save Our Society From Drugs (S.O.S.). On Saturday, May 14, she will speak to the DATIA conference on “Substance Abuse: Where We Have Been, Where We Are, and Where We Are Headed.”
This presentation will examine the history of our national drug policy, where is stands today, and what the future holds. It will also explore past, current, and possible future drug trends and how they are impacted by drug policy.
Ms. Fay has been an outspoken advocate against the legalization of drugs for over 10 years. She was a founding board member of S.O.S. She is the former president of Drug Watch International, a network engaged in combating the drug legalization movement globally. Ms. Fay has served as an advisor to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy as well as several political leaders, including President Bush, on drug policy issues.
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In her current position at the Drug Free America Foundation, Ms. Fay provides education to the public about the dangers of drugs of abuse and efforts of drug pushers to legalize drugs.
Ms. Fay has close to 20 years of experience in the drug prevention field and is considered a pioneering expert on workplace drug abuse prevention programs. She has authored several books, including The Supervisor's Handbook For Preventing Drug Abuse in The Workplace and Starting a Drug Free Business Initiative, as well as numerous newsletters and publications in the field that have been published at regional and national levels. She was the managing editor and a co-author of A Report on Employer Attitudes and the Impact of Drug Control Strategies on Workplace Productivity. She also served as the
managing editor of a monograph titled Drug Abuse in the Decade of the Brain.
Ms. Fay's vast experience in the field of drug abuse research and prevention makes her an outstanding addition to the DATIA annual conference line-up, and we look forward to hosting her.
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Member Spotlight: Concentra Health Services
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We are proud to highlight Concentra Health Services during this issue of the DATIA newsletter. Concentra Health Services, located in Addison, TX, has been a DATIA member since March 2004 and just recently upgraded its membership status to a Sustaining Member. Concentra is the largest single collection site network in the country. They decided to upgrade their membership status in order to support the industry and to take a more active role within DATIA. Concentra Health Services provides alcohol testing, mobile collections, alternative specimen testing, non-mandated testing, on-site testing, and DOT physicals.
Concentra's mission is to create and deliver healthcare solutions, patient and claimant outcomes, and business results that will benefit in their client's success. They provide products and services in the workers compensation, occupational health, group health, and auto liability markets. Concentra provides over 100 On-Site Corporate Medical Programs and has over 1,000 Expanded Medical Network Providers.
In 2003, Concentra generated $1.05 billion dollars in revenue. The company currently employs over 10,000 employees throughout the country. With over 250 currently owned and managed Occupational Medical Centers, Concentra is the nation's leading provider of workers compensation and other occupational healthcare services. The company also provides outsourced, specialized cost management services for Group Health insurance companies, payer organizations and medical providers.
The multiple operating segments and company units employing the Concentra® trademark have a common goal of reducing the personal and financial loss associated with occupational and non-occupational injuries. In 2003, Concentra completed more than 5.2 million patient visits (including over 500,000 workers compensation injuries) and reviewed and re-priced more than $12.0 billion in medical bills. These services returned injured workers promptly to employment, helped resolve in-network and out-of-network group health and auto liability claims, and eliminated an estimated $2.1 billion in unnecessary expenses for employers and insurers.
Concentra prides itself in providing the following results for its clients:
•Superior patient outcomes
•Reduced and improved medical and administrative costs
•Streamlined and improved work and business processes
•Faster decision making and turnaround times
•Improved claim payment, fairness and accuracy
•Strengthened patient, claimant and client relations, and
•Improved financial performance and earnings per share.
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Marc Perlstein is the director of lab/TPA national accounts for Concentra Health Services in Addison, Texas. He is responsible for all Laboratory and Non-Injury Third Party Administrators account activity with Concentra Medical Centers across the country. Mr. Perlstein started his career with a large mechanical contractor in Dallas, Texas where he was vice president of personnel and administration. As vice president, he instituted a drug and alcohol-testing program in 1985 and acted as the Designated Employer Representative until 1988. Before joining MetPath as account manager, he did consulting work with many Dallas firms helping them establish their substance abuse programs. Mr. Perlstein has worked with several laboratories as account manager, including Kroll/LSI, and Nichols Institute, which later became Quest Diagnostics. Beginning in 1993 and until 1999, Marc Perlstein was account manager for many Fortune 500 firms, including Exxon, Shell Oil, Halliburton, and GTE/Verizon. In 1999, Mr. Perlstein served as director of sales for Assurance Medical, Inc., in Dallas. Marc also served as regional sales manager for PharmChem, Inc. Mr. Perlstein graduated from the University of North Texas with a degree in Management.
Before Marc Perlstein joined Concentra Health Services, they had never really taken a centralized approach to dealing with labs and TPA's. Part of his goal has been to strengthen the relationship between labs and TPA's and to make it as easy as possible for those two groups to do business with Concentra. Due to his past associations within the industry, Mr. Perlstein was aware of the challenges that they faced on a day-to-day basis. Joining DATIA was a simple decision for Concentra Health Services! The exchange of information was important to the company. Marc believes that Concentra will learn more from DATIA's existing members and knows that Concentra has something to offer as well. |
Federal Aviation Administration Releases a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
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On December 14, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that will amend the administration's airman certification requirements to disqualify airmen based on a test result of 0.04 or greater breath alcohol concentration or a refusal to take a drug or alcohol test required by the Department of Transportation. The FAA also proposes to standardize the time period for reporting refusals and certain test results to the administration, and to require employers to report pre-employment and return-to-duty test refusals. The FAA regulations would also be amended to recognize current breath alcohol testing technology.
The changes are proposed to ensure that persons who engage in substance abuse do not operate aircraft or perform contract air traffic control tower operations until it is determined that these individuals can operate safely, and is an example of the FAA's pro-active efforts to ensure that only drug-and alcohol-free individuals perform pilot duties.
The current FAA regulations deny airman medical certificates due to substance abuse defined as use of a substance, for the second time, in a physically hazardous situation; a verified positive DOT drug test; or misuse of a substance may make a person unable to safely perform their duties in the judgment of the Federal Air Surgeon.
Changes to the FAA drug and alcohol testing regulations include:
• Revising their airman certification requirements (14 CFR 61.14, 63.12b, and 65.23) to include refusals to take a pre-employment or return to duty test. These sections currently only deal with individuals who are actually performing safety-sensitive functions, whereas a pre-employment or return-to-duty test would deal with individuals who intend to enter a position to perform a safety-sensitive function. The proposed changes would bring FAA regulations in-line with DOT refusals to test under Part 40.
• Amending the administration's list of medically disqualifying factors for those wishing to obtain an airman medical certificate under 14 CFR 67 to include an alcohol test result of 0.04 or greater breath alcohol concentration (BAC) on a alcohol test required by DOT or a DOT agency, and a refusal to submit to an alcohol or drug test required by DOT or a DOT agency.
Under FAA regulations, the only individuals subject to alcohol tests are those who hold airman medical certificates, typically including pilots and crewmembers of commercial air carriers and contract air traffic controllers.
Between 1998 and 2003, 71 commercial airline pilots were identified by DOT tests as having a BAC or 0.04 or more. The FAA wrote that a BAC test of 0.04 or greater shows “a disregard for safety by their inability to control their use of alcohol. This behavior, in the opinion of the Federal Air Surgeon, constitutes substance abuse.”
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FAA also feels that “when regulated individuals refuse to take a test required by DOT or a DOT agency, they violate their duty to uphold transportation safety. Furthermore, their refusals are overt attempts to subvert the testing program.”
Applying the principles of 49 CFR Part 40 to airman medical certification, the FAA proposes that refusal to take a drug or alcohol test should be “an immediately disqualifying factor resulting in the denial or revocation” of the certificate.
These medical qualifications will apply to any person who holds or applies for an airman medical certificate, even those subject to testing who hold a certificate for reasons unrelated to their safety-related job.
Other technical proposed changes to the FAA regulations:
•Employers will be required to notify the FAA of refusals to take a pre-employment or return-to-duty drug or alcohol test.
•The time frame for MROs to submit information to the Federal Air Surgeon regarding certificate holders will change from 12 working days to two working days from the date of verification of a positive drug test.
•A SAP must not recommend that an employer return to duty an individual who has refused to take a drug test for a position that requires an airman medical certificate. Only after the Federal Air Surgeon has issued a new certificate can the SAP recommend return to duty. Employers will also have to forward SAP reports to the Federal Air Surgeon within two working days of receipt of the report.
•Refusals to submit to testing will be added to the record retention requirements.
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Attendees Rave About DATIA’s New Secrets to Successful Program Management Course
Last year, DATIA decided that it was time to revamp its Secrets to Successful Drug and Alcohol Testing Program Management course. DATIA's goal was to maintain the integrity of the old course, while introducing new topics affecting drug and alcohol testing program managers today. DATIA members were asked to submit proposals for a new curriculum, and after careful consideration a winning proposal was selected. DATIA's management team worked diligently to prepare the new material for its debut in the fall of 2004. All of those efforts paid off on November 19th and 20th in San Francisco, California, when the new course was presented. It was a huge hit!
Using a scale of one to ten with ten being excellent, the majority of the course attendees rated the overall effectiveness of the course as a ten. Some of the wonderful comments made by the attendees were:
•"I really benefited from this training course, glad I came!"
•"Excellent instruction--very informative. I gained knowledge, which will be very beneficial to my organization."
•"This class is exactly what I have been looking for--very informative and detailed, Thank you!"
•”Great job--program provided guidance to all of my questions."
•"Would highly recommend this course to others."
DATIA is extremely pleased with the success of the course. DATIA is also pleased to see that the course attendees are no longer only consortium or third party administrators, but employers as well. Several representatives from major companies like Anheuser-Busch, Inc., were in attendance. This reflects employers’ growing interest to become knowledgeable of the proper ways to manage or have their drug and alcohol testing programs managed.
DATIA would like to thank Lori Lal of LGS Drug Testing for her course outline and Dean Klassy for instructing the course in a professional and experienced fashion. We look forward to continuing this success into 2005, starting with our March courses in Los Angeles, California. The complete listing of locations for 2005 and the new course agenda is available at http://www.datia.org. You can also conveniently register for the classes online. Please do not hesitate. The classes will fill up quickly.
Previous course attendees are encouraged to attend the new course. However, if your schedule does not permit, you can order the new training manual at http://www.datia.org or by calling 1-800-355-1257.
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Are You Interested in Becoming More Involved with DATIA?
DATIA will soon be seeking interested members to serve on the 2005-2006 Board of Directors. All members of DATIA are eligible for nomination, and we encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to increase your participation in the activities and leadership of the association.
The DATIA Board of Directors is responsible for assisting DATIA in shaping and carrying out the association's agenda and strategic plan. Input from Board members is relied upon throughout the year for guidance on regulations and legislation and how they will affect the drug and alcohol testing industry.
Be on the lookout for more information in upcoming editions of DATIA ENewsweekly!
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Department Of Transportation (DOT) Announces Random Testing Rates for All Modes
On December 17, 2004, DATIA received the 2005 random testing rates for all modes from John A. Bobo, director of the DOT’s Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance.
The rates have not changed from 2004. However, the DOT noted that United States Coast Guard (USCG) employees may be combined with DOT covered employees in the drug testing pools even though the USCG is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
View the 2005 Random Testing Rates chart below. DATIA also has this chart available online at http://www.datia.org/.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)
Controlled Substance = 50%
Alcohol =10%
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
Controlled Substance = 25%
Alcohol = 10%
Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)
Controlled Substance = 25%
Alcohol = 10%
Federal Transit Administration (FTA)
Controlled Substance = 50%
Alcohol = 10%
Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA)
Controlled Substance = 25%
Alcohol = Not Applicable
United States Coast Guard (USCG)
Controlled Substance = 50%
Alcohol = Not Applicable
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SBA Grants
HR 4818, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, was signed by President Bush on December 8, 2004. The bill includes continued funding for the Paul Coverdell Drug Free Workplace grants that are administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA), and again allows for private entities to receive funding in order to assist small businesses with setting up drug free workplace programs.
DATIA was instrumental in the original passage of the Drug Free Workplace Act was passed in 1998, and led the fight to ensure that for-profit companies were allowed to apply for and utilize the grants. When the measure was up for reauthorization this year, DATIA lobbied the House and Senate small business committees, asking for continued funding that specifically allowed private sector drug and alcohol testing industry professionals to help small business set up and run successful drug free workplace programs.
We believe that private sector drug testing service providers have the experience, knowledge, innovation, and technologies to effectively institute drug free workplaces that government entities do not, and are pleased that they will continue to have this important opportunity.
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