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 President Testifies at DC Health Oversight Hearing
On March 19, 2021, MSDC President Dr. E.W. Emanuel testified on behalf of the Medical Society at the Committee on Health's DC Health oversight hearing. Below is his written testimony.
March 19, 2021
Councilmember Vincent Gray
Chair, Committee on Health
1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20004
Dear Chair Gray,
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to testify today at this oversight hearing. My name is E.W. Emanuel, and I am the 2020-2021 President of the Medical Society of DC (MSDC). MSDC is the largest medical organization representing metropolitan Washington physicians in the District. We advocate on behalf of all 11,000 plus licensed physicians in the District and seek to make the District “the best place to practice medicine”.
The SARS-CoV-2 public health emergency has been a major test for the District’s public health infrastructure. DC Health overall has responded heroically, and its staff has gone above and beyond to protect the residents of the District. I want to publicly thank Dr. Nesbitt, Dr. Watson, Dr. Shah, Dr. Lewis, and the many DC Health employees for bringing a public health lens to the tough decisions that have been made during the pandemic. Even where we disagree or choices made were not ideal, they were made with the best interest of District residents in mind.
While MSDC has been involved in numerous initiatives with DC Health during the pandemic, I want to highlight one area of collaboration. Recently MSDC and DC Health stood up the DC Clinician Champions Program, a program that connects physicians and community events to address questions about COVID-19 and the vaccine. To date MSDC and the DC CCP have staffed numerous community events and MSDC looks forward to expanding the program as vaccine availability expands.
Looking ahead, there are some critical issues facing medicine. Many of these areas can be addressed within the budget, and some are issues I want to raise as a point of interest for the committee.
- Make permanent the licensure flexibility permitted by the public health emergency. DC Health quickly allowed medical practices to treat patients across local state lines. This kind of flexibility was promised by the Interstate Medical License Compact, which DC Health is finally implementing. I urge the Council and DC Health to go further and permit freedom to treat patients in the District via telemedicine if (1) the healthcare provider is located in Maryland or Virginia and has a pre-existing treatment relationship, or (2) the physician is located in the District and their practice/health system needs to refer to another healthcare professional within the practice located in Maryland or Virginia. I also urge DC Health to enter negotiations with Maryland and Virginia for a “DMV” license agreement, similar to the Interstate Medical License Compact but covering these three states.
- Fully fund and expand the Health Professional Loan Repayment Program. I thank the Chair for supporting this important program, which allows physicians to practice in medically underserved areas and receive a needed financial support for standing up their practice. As we stated last year, we urge the Council to not only fully fund but consider increasing the funding, as well as expanding eligibility to physicians who work in an ambulatory clinic or hospital setting.
- Support a DC version of the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act. Named after a physician who committed suicide during the pandemic, this federal legislation would create wellbeing programs for healthcare providers and establish a national campaign to encourage healthcare professionals to seek support due to trauma. I encourage the District to create grant programs to support healthcare professionals seeking wellbeing in light of the pandemic. MSDC has a wellbeing program and last year my colleague Dr. Laurie Duncan shared with the committee MSDC’s work. In addition, DC Health can make available data from its healthcare workforce surveys to identify gaps in healthcare professional wellbeing.
Please reach out to the MSDC office if I or our membership can be of assistance on this or any issue. We look forward to working with you and the Committee to make the District the best place to practice medicine.
Sincerely,
EW Emanuel, MD
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