Covering the Hill

Emergency physicians blanketed Capitol Hill today, asking the nation’s elected officials to repair a broken healthcare system. ACEP leaders from every state gathered in the historic Senate Caucus Room* to hear a Congressional view of healthcare from several Senators and Congressman, including Representative Timothy Murphy (R-PA) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR). In spite of their differing political affiliations, Representative Murphy and Senator Wyden agree that healthcare in America needs reform, and that reform must come soon. Following the remarks, ACEP physicians made over 300 visits to Senators and Representatives on the Hill, asking them to support the Access to Emergency Medical Services Act of 2007. (HR 882 and SB 1003)

The bill has 3 essential elements:

Convene a Bipartisan commission to study the problems in emergency healthcare delivery.

Provide a 10% additional payment to physicians providing EMTALA related services to Medicare beneficiaries. This is expected to help on-call specialists defray some of the costs of professional liability insurance associated with taking care of emergency patients.

Direct CMS (the governmental agency that controls Medicare and Medicaid) to collect data on crowding and boarding, then develop measures to alleviate these problems.

The bill began the week with 135 co-sponsors in the House and 18 co-sponsors in the Senate. Many more promised to add their support in the weeks to come. As support grows, so does the chance of meaningful change…….and that is what brought ACEP to Washington.

*The Senate Caucus Room has been the site of other historic events - the Titanic hearings, the McCarthy hearings, the Iran-Contra hearings

Greetings from D.C.

I’ve been in Washington D.C. for two days now, participating in ACEP’s Leadership and Advocacy Conference. Yesterday was a day of “pre-meeting” meetings. The Chapter Executives, Those professionals who provide staff functions for their respective chapters, met yesterday to exchange ideas and discuss matters relevant to the smooth functioning of the chapters.

The Council Steering Committee met to conduct the interim business of the Council and to set the agenda for the 2000 Council meeting in Seattle. The Audit Committee and the Finance Committee met to conduct the financial business of the college.

Several other committees met yesterday, including State Legislative/Regulatory Committee, the EMS Committee, the Federal Governmental Affairs Committee, and the National/Chapter Relations Committee. The Young Physicians section met and the NEMPAC Ambassadors conducted a Phone-a-thon to raise support for NEMPAC.

The Legislative and Advocacy Conference formally kicked off this morning, with 332 registrants from 43 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Government Services Chapter. ACEP was please to have one attendee from Australia in addition to the U.S. members. The California and Pennsylvania chapters tied for the most numbers of registrants (25), but the Michigan Chapter actually has 21 members and their Chapter Executive, Diane Bolland here. Ten of these members are participating in Michigan’s Chapter Leader Development Program. The program was piloted by the New Jersey Chapter through a chapter grant several years ago. With some adaptations, the Michigan Chapter has put the program to use with young physicians who show aptitude and potential for leadership. It may be early in the program, but it is exciting to observe this chapter as they develop their advocacy agenda.

I’ll be in D.C. until Friday, and I’ll keep the latest happenings posted. Stay safe.

Photo by Angela Gardner