PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Dog Days of Advocacy

Three simple words are at the heart of most of our advocacy work here at SSVMS: access to care. When there’s a critical shortage of physicians, patients can’t get the care they need. It’s truly that simple.

In August, your SSVMS leadership team pulled together and met with our local members of Congress to discuss a few important bills. Here’s what we focused on:

HR 2474, or the Strengthening Medicare for Physicians and Patients Act, provides an annual inflation update to the Medicare physician fee schedule. Since 2001, Medicare physician Payment has fallen 26% because physicians don’t have this annual inflation update like all other Medicare providers. This bill will help keep practice doors open. One of the bill’s authors is our very own Congressman Ami Bera, MD.

HR 2389/S 1302, or the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act, provides 14,000 new Graduate Medical Education positions over seven years to open the pipeline for more young physicians. GME positions have been capped for more than 25 years now while medical school enrollment has increased. This bill would allow more to finish their training and curb the dire physician shortages.

HR 4189/S 2016, or the CONNECT for Health Act of 2023, makes the COVID-19 pandemic telehealth waivers permanent. Access to telehealth services allows us to reach many more patients that we wouldn’t have been able to treat over the past few years. This is a common-sense approach to meet patients where they are and continue providing essential care to those who need it.

These conversations were fruitful and productive, and I hope to report back to you soon with positive news about how these bills turn out!

Thank you,

J. Bianca Roberts, MD

SSVMS President

SSV MEDICINE MAGAZINE

FEATURED ARTICLE

Zero Tolerance for Physician Mistreatment

By Ken Smith