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, AMA Issue Joint Statement Supporting Prior Auth Reform Bill
For Immediate Release
April 5, 2022
Physicians Advocate for Removal of Health Insurance Barriers to Care in District of Columbia
Survey finds prior authorization requirements delay care and harm patients
WASHINGTON – The American Medical Association (AMA) joined the Medical Society of the District of Columbia (MSDC) in supporting a bill to reform the health insurer-imposed approval processes for medical procedures, treatments, and drugs. In a letter delivered today to the Council of the District of Columbia’s Committee on Health, the two physician organizations urged immediate action on the Prior Authorization Reform Act of 2022 as a critically needed measure to rein in bureaucratic insurance requirements that delay and disrupt patient access to necessary medical care in the District of Columbia.
Survey data released in February by the AMA show that more than nine in 10 physicians (93%) reported care delays while waiting for health insurers to authorize necessary care, and more than four in five physicians (82%) said patients abandon treatment due to authorization struggles with health insurers.
Despite a 2018 commitment from the health insurance industry to streamline prior authorization processes for patients, physicians report that the burden is dramatically increasing, causing a variety of problems for their patients and their practices. In fact, more than one-third (34%) of physicians reported that prior authorization led to a serious adverse event, such as hospitalization, disability, or even death, for a patient in their care.
To help ensure that District patients get the care they need in a timely manner, the Prior Authorization Reform Act of 2022 was introduced by Councilmembers Mary Cheh, Charles Allen, Anita Bonds, Janeese Lewis George, and Vincent Gray. The reform bill would realign what has become a very broken system by introducing new transparency and clinical validity requirements to ensure patients have access to care.
“Prior authorization is one of the biggest impediments to patient care, and this legislation would allow physicians to treat their patients without unnecessary paperwork and delays,” said MSDC President Kirstiaan Nevin, M.D.
“Providing quality care to patients is the top priority of physicians, but waiting for a health plan authorization can delay and disrupt patient-centric care with a lengthy administrative nightmare of recurring paperwork, multiple phone calls and bureaucratic battles,” said AMA President Gerald Harmon, M.D. “Almost four years after agreeing with physicians on needed improvements, the health insurance industry has made little progress toward those goals. Failure of health insurers to achieve agreed-upon improvements illustrates a clear opportunity for District councilmembers to rein-in prior authorization requirements that adversely impact patient health.”
In the face of inaction by health insurance companies, it is time for District councilmembers to streamline prior authorization requirements so patients can receive the treatment they need, when they need it. For more information visit: www.fixpriorauth.org.
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Media Contacts:
Robert J. Mills
American Medical Association
Email: robert.mills@ama-assn.org
Pia Duryea
Medical Society of the District of Columbia
Email: duryea@msdc.org
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