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.
Action Alert - Join Our Practice Letter Calling for Expedited Licensure
MSDC is asking its members to join its joint letter to DC Health asking for an expedited healthcare provider licensure process for local providers.
The pandemic has shown that physicians, practices, and other healthcare providers treat patients throughout the area. As people and practices change, the ability to retain patients or treat new ones is critical. Maryland and Virginia have expedited processes for physicians who are licensed in the other state or DC, and meet licensure requirements. Unfortunately, since Virginia has not joined the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, another avenue is needed to fully realize regional licensure.
If your practice would like to join the letter, email hay@msdc.org with your practice name as you would like it spelled on the letter. MSDC is also soliciting local healthcare association signatures. Please send signatures by Tuesday, June 1 by 5 PM.
___________________________________________________
LaQuandra Nesbitt, MD
Director, DC Department of Health (DC Health)
899 North Capitol Street NE
Washington, DC 20002
Dear Dr. Nesbitt –
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the value of regional licensure to address the District’s health needs. During the public health emergency, the Mayor and your department waived some licensure requirements that allowed our practices and facilities to operate flexibly to address the pandemic and keep the District safe.
The licensure waivers have helped us staff our practices and see our patients regardless of location. The pandemic has shown that expedited licensure processes for local providers is essential for keeping the District safe and healthy. A return to rigid licensure requirements for local healthcare providers would burden our community at a time when residents expect the highest standard of care.
Both Maryland and Virginia have statutory language permitting physicians in the other state to apply for an expedited license. This process requires the applicant to meet licensure requirements in their state and creates a separate application process that allows them to receive a license more quickly. We urge DC Health to create an expedited regional license process to permit physicians and other healthcare providers in good standing in our area to receive a District license more quickly. Such a process would permit Maryland and Virginia healthcare providers who meet DC licensure requirements already to submit a separate, smaller application with a faster approval timeline.
We have attached language from Virginia and Maryland as a guide on how such regulations or legislation could be constructed.
As practices who provide care for a large percentage of the District population, we urge you to take this step now or in tandem with the Council to bring the District in line with Maryland and Virginia.
Sincerely,
Medical Society of the District of Columbia
CC: The Honorable Phil Mendelson, Chair of the Council of the District of Columbia
The Honorable Vincent C. Gray, Chair of the Council’s Committee on Health
Maryland
17 Initial Licensure by Reciprocity.
A. Requirements. An applicant for initial licensure by reciprocity shall:
(1) Have an active, unrestricted license to practice medicine in another jurisdiction that:
(a) At the time the applicant was licensed, had licensure requirements substantially equivalent to the Board’s current licensure requirements as set forth in Regulation .03 of this chapter; and
(b) Offers a similar reciprocal licensure process to physicians licensed by the Board;
(2) Be in good standing under the laws of every jurisdiction where the individual is licensed; and
(3) Submit to a State and national criminal history records check in accordance with Health Occupations Article, §14-308.1, Annotated Code of Maryland.
B. Documentation. An applicant for initial licensure by reciprocity shall submit:
(1) An application for reciprocity on a form provided by the Board;
(2) The application fee as set by the Board;
(3) Evidence of compliance with §A of this regulation; and
(4) Any additional documentation set forth in Regulation .04 of this chapter that is needed for the Board to evaluate an application.
C. On receipt of the documentation required in §B of this regulation, the Board shall process the application for initial license by reciprocity in an expedited manner.
D. The Board may not issue a license if the criminal history records information, pursuant to §A of this regulation, has not been received.
E. After a license is issued, the licensee is subject to the Board’s jurisdiction and shall comply with all laws and regulations governing the practice of medicine in the State.
Virginia
54.1-2927. Applicants from other states without reciprocity; temporary licenses or certificates for certain practitioners of the healing arts.
A. The Board, in its discretion, may issue certificates or licenses to applicants upon endorsement by boards or other appropriate authorities of other states or territories or the District of Columbia with which reciprocal relations have not been established if the credentials of such applicants are satisfactory and the examinations and passing grades required by such other boards are fully equal to those required by the Virginia Board.
The Board may issue certificates or licenses to applicants holding certificates from the national boards of their respective branches of the healing arts if their credentials, schools of graduation and national board examinations and results are acceptable to the Board. The Board shall promulgate regulations in order to carry out the provisions of this section.
The Board of Medicine shall prioritize applicants for licensure as a doctor of medicine or osteopathic medicine, a physician assistant, or a nurse practitioner from such states that are contiguous with the Commonwealth in processing their applications for licensure by endorsement through a streamlined process, with a final determination regarding qualification to be made within 20 days of the receipt of a completed application.
B. The Board may issue authorization to practice valid for a period not to exceed three months to a practitioner of the healing arts licensed or certified and in good standing with the applicable regulatory agency in the state, District of Columbia, or Canada where the practitioner resides when the practitioner is in Virginia temporarily to practice the healing arts (i) in a summer camp or in conjunction with patients who are participating in recreational activities, (ii) in continuing education programs, or (iii) by rendering at any site any health care services within the limits of his license or certificate, voluntarily and without compensation, to any patient of any clinic that is organized in whole or in part for the delivery of health care services without charge as provided in § 54.1-106. A fee not to exceed $25 may be charged by the Board for the issuance of authorization to practice pursuant to the provisions of this subsection.
Code 1950, §§ 54-276.5, 54-310; 1954, c. 626; 1958, c. 161; 1960, cc. 333, 334; 1970, c. 69; 1972, c. 15; 1973, c. 529; 1975, c. 508; 1981, c. 300; 1985, c. 303; 1988, c. 765; 1992, c. 414; 1993, c. 784; 2016, c. 494; 2020, cc. 236, 368.
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