Advocacy Successes
Physician Advocacy Successes
Good health policy is made with physicians in the discussion.
MSDC, working with its members, partners, and other organizations, has won major policy victories to help its members practice medicine. Below is a sampling of those victories. Do you want to be a vital part of the next policy victory helping improve the health of the District? Contact us today.
Opioid Policy
- MSDC was added to the opioid fund oversight panel by the Council in its legislation authorizing the oversight body
Scope of Practice
- MSDC supported legislation to ban the sale of flavored electronic smoking devices and restrict the sale of electronic smoking devices.
- Working with a coalition, MSDC added funding to the DC budget to support the hiring of more license specialists to help with the delay in processing medical licenses.
Women's Health
- B24-143, to regulate certified midwives, passed the Council with MSDC's support
Health Equity
- Mayor Muriel Bowser signs into law the Electronic Medical Order for Scope of Treatment Registry Amendment Act of 2019. The eMOST Registry Amendment Act permits the creation of an electronic database of advanced directive wishes for District residents that can be tied into the health information exchange.
- Mayor Bowser signs into law the School Sunscreen Safety Temporary Amendment Act of 2019. The bill permits students to bring and apply sunscreen during the 2019-2020 school year.
- MSDC comments on the importance of funding United Medical Center (UMC) and health facilities in Wards 7 and 8 in the mayor's budget. Those comments are used almost verbatim in CM Trayon White's comments advocating for funding of United Medical Center.
Scope of Practice
- DC Health publishes draft regulations removing the 3 mandatory CME hours for HIV/AIDS awareness and replaces them with a requirement to fulfill 10% of mandatory CME hours with a topic from a public health priority list. DC Health then waived the requirement for 2020.
- The Strengthening Reproductive Health Protections Act of 2020 is signed into law with MSDC support. The bill prohibits government interference in reproductive decisions between a patient and doctor, and prohibits employers from penalizing physicians for practicing reproductive medicine outside of their work hours.
- The Mayor's Commission on Healthcare Systems Transformation releases its final recommendations. One recommendation is for the District to explore options to make providing health care more affordable, including financial relief for higher malpractice insurance rates.
- The Council removes "telephone" from the list of prohibited types of telemedicine to allow physicians and other providers to be reimbursed for telephone telemedicine appointments after MSDC and health community advocacy.
- MSDC worked with the Council to modify onerous language in the Health Care Reporting Amendment Act that potentially would have penalized physicians from seeking help for substance abuse or addiction issues.
Opioid/Drug Policy
- The Department of Health Care Finance (DHCF) waives prior authorization for key medication assisted treatments (MAT) treating substance use disorder patients in Medicaid.
- The Mayor signed into law The Access to Biosimilars Amendment Act of 2019, a top MSDC priority as it would help prescribers to prescribe more cost-effective drugs for patients.
Behavioral Health
- The Behavioral Health Parity Act of 2017, a major priority for MSDC and DCPA, officially becomes law. The legislation requires all health benefit plans offered by an insurance carrier to meet the federal requirements of the Wellstone/Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.
Health Equity
- The District Council passes B22-1001, The Health Insurance Marketplace Improvement Amendment Act of 2018. The bill prohibits the sale of Short Term, Limited Duration health plans and Association Health Plans (AHPs) in the DC Health Benefits Exchange.
Scope of Practice
- DC joins 28 other states in the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact with B22-177 becoming law. The IMLC is designed to ease physician licensure in multiple states.
Women's Health
- The Maternal Mortality Review Committee is established by law. The Committee is responsible for finding solutions to maternal health crisis in the District. District physicians are an important part of this vital committee.
- B22-106, The Defending Access to Women's Health Care Services Amendment Act, becomes law. The act requires insurers to cover health care services like breast cancer screening and STI screenings without cost-sharing.
Opioid Policy
- Right before the Council adjourned for the session, it passed B21-32, the Specialty Drug Copayment Limitation Act. The bill limits cost shifting by payers for prescription drugs.
Behavioral Health
- B21-0007 passes the Council. The Behavioral Health Coordination of Care Amendment Act of 2016 permitted the disclosing of mental health information between a mental health facility and the health professional caring for the patient.
Women's Health
- MSDC was proud to have worked on B21-20. The law requires payers to cover up to 12 months of prescription contraception, advancing women's health and equality.
MSDC Board Votes to Create Gender Equity Task Force
The MSDC Board of Directors held its first meeting of 2022 on February 28, and the agenda was packed. Similar to the two previous meetings, Board members gathered in-person at MSDC's offices as well as online.
The agenda included a new proposal to create a gender equity task force, which the Board approved. This task force will issue a report, "detailing its positions on gender equity in medicine and provide tangible recommendations on how MSDC can further promote the advancement of this cause in medicine including, but not limited to, suggestions for programming, initiatives, and resources for members and the medical community at large." The task force will also create a reporting system to track the demographics and equitable representation among MSDC volunteers, speakers, and event attendees. The recommendations came from the Chairs of the Women in Medicine Section and Advocacy Committee as a follow-up to a presentation from the American Women's Medical Association last year.
The Board also approved a new policy on healthy foods in DC healthcare facilities, including hospitals. Recognizing that changes in public health can best be modeled when patients receive care, the new MSDC policy encourages all healthcare facilities to offer healthier food alternatives, stop serving processed meat, promote healthy beverages, and provide nutritional information for food served. The policy models the American Medical Association's policy, which MSDC's delegation also introduced.
In addition to these items, the Board took the following actions:
- Approving the deadline to renew membership dues of March 31
- Approving the 2022 Investment Policy Statement
- Approving contracting with GRF CPAs for the annual audit.
The Board heard a presentation from the Chair regarding COVID statistics in DC as well as expectations for Board members. The Board also discussed recent advocacy victories including:
- Introduction of legislation to reform prior authorization in DC
- Dr. Laurie Duncan testifying at the DC Health oversight hearing
- MSDC submitting testimony on legislation supporting FGM prohibition and stating concerns with CFSA policy on positive toxicology screenings during their oversight hearing
The meeting began with a presentation by Unity Insurance on its offerings for medical practices and physicians. Unity is MSDC's newest corporate partner and insurance option for DC physicians. For more information, see our press release.
The next MSDC Board meeting will be April 25, 2022. MSDC members in good standing may request an invitation to attend from Robert Hay Jr.