M. Anthony Sofia, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, School of Medicine, OHSU
I was happy to be among the 10 AGA members that joined our specialty physician colleagues with the Alliance of Specialty Medicine for a successful virtual congressional fly-in.
Each congressional meeting began with the member of Congress discussing their positions on various policy issues and efforts to advance health care reforms. Following their remarks, each lawmaker heard questions directly from the group. Ten of the 13 members of Congress we met with are physicians themselves and many currently sit on congressional committees that have jurisdiction over health care issues.
We advocated for:
- The Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act (H.R. 3173) reduces the administrative burden of prior authorizations by establishing a standard electronic process, minimizing requirements for routinely approved services and establishing standards for review.
- The Safe Step Act (H.R. 2163/ S. 464) requires group health plans to establish an exception process for step therapy protocols and require timely responses within three days.
- The Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act (H.R. 2256/ S. 834) increases Medicare-supported graduate medical education (GME) residency slots and supports efforts to increase diversity among health care professionals.
- H.R. 944 creates a loan repayment program to incentivize specialty physicians to serve in rural communities with specialty physician shortages.
Furthermore, every legislator heard that the expansion of telehealth during the public health emergency has been an invaluable tool that will remain vitally important long after the public health emergency.
Members of Congress need to hear directly from us about the priorities that can best improve our patients’ lives. Like AGA’s Advocacy Day, the Alliance fly-in allows direct exposure to the thoughts of elected officials and offers the ability to personally address each member about matters we all face in practice. The unified voices of the AGA and ASM bridge differences in medical specialties to raise congressional awareness of these issues.
