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.
How to Testify Before the District Council
This article is the first in a series of advocacy advice articles that are part of MSDC's Advocacy Curriculum. If you have thoughts on future topics, please contact Robert Hay Jr. at hay [at] msdc.org.
The idea of sitting before a committee and testifying on legislation can be terrifying. Even for the most accomplished scholar or medical professional, the thought of being grilled by a lawmaker on the topic can be enough to dissuade a physician from raising their hand to speak at a Council hearing. However, the benefit to you and your cause to speaking at a hearing is invaluable, and worth the time and energy.
Before proceeding, it is important to note that the public health emergency has changed how people can testify on legislation. While many of the basics are the same, we will note in this article where virtual v. in-person testifying differ. Moving forward, we are unsure if virtual testimony will still be an option but as with everything advocacy will adjust.
The first, most important thing to know about testifying on an issue is when the hearing on the bill will be. The DC Council has an informative website and hearing notices usually contain deadlines to send in information to testify. You can submit written or verbal testimony, but the latter is much more effective than the former. If all else fails, keep in touch with MSDC to find out when hearings of interest come up.
Prior to the hearing, you will need to compose a written statement. This is used for the official hearing record, so double check your spelling! The written statement can be an outline of your talking points or a more in-depth document used to provide supplemental information on your argument. The hearing notice will give you guidance on when and how written testimony should be submitted prior to the hearing.
MSDC Written Testimony Example
At the hearing itself, you are allowed to bring notes and talking point documents with you to use as you testify. However, depending on the issue, it may be better to speak extemporaneously to give a more personal feel to your testimony. However, use whichever style will help you get your point across - you will not lose a legislator if you need to read your statement.
So the day of the hearing is here. For an in-person hearing, we encourage those testifying to arrive before the hearing begins if possible. If it will be a long hearing or a hearing covering many bills, check with MSDC staff or even Council staff to get a sense of when your turn will come up in the schedule. MSDC witnesses will usually have an MSDC staff person there to provide updates on when their turn is approaching. Also, you can request a witness list prior to the hearing but keep in mind it may change the day of the hearing.
For online testimony, the experience is similar but much more convenient. You can log-in to the livestreaming site and go about your work. Depending on the committee, a staff person will send you a message 20 minutes or so prior to your turn to testify. Once your turn comes up, staff will turn on your camera and mic, and you can begin speaking.
The Council arranges testimony in panels, usually of four people at a time. Each person delivers testimony, and the Chair and committee members ask questions of the panelists. Depending on the topic and time, you may receive questions or not. It is OK to say you don't have an answer to a question but can get one. Also, it is ok to be friendly. If the Chair or a committee member wants to say hello and ask how you are doing, feel free to say hello back!
Every hearing has a time limit for testimony. It is usually between 3 and 5 minutes. Please stay within that time. Depending on the topic and number of people testifying, the Chair may be strict with your time or a little looser, but out of respect plan on testifying within your time limit.
Finally, have fun! Not only do you get to be an expert you may influence the fate of the bills on which you are testifying. I have heard stories of physicians testifying on a bill and because they were the only public witness, and they did a great job testifying, a bill moved out of committee. In the District Council, with its smaller size, your voice can have an oversized impact.
Good examples of how to testify:
- Dr. Laurie Duncan on physician health during a performance oversight hearing (2 hr:10min mark)
- Drs. Sam Kareff and Yavar Moghimi testifying on a number of bills (for and against) online
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