MSDC Asks AMA To Support DC Federal Funding April 26, 2020
Last week, the MSDC delegation to the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates asked the association to support "catch-up" funding for the District of Columbia as part of the CARES Act.
In the original CARES Act stimulus bill signed into law, the District was added to the territorial funding formula instead of the state funding formula. Because of this, DC received $500m in federal relief funds instead of $1.2b it would have received if it were classified as a state for funding. This classification was an outlier - DC is normally classified as a state for federal funding formulas.
The MSDC delegation includes delegates Peter Lavine, MD (Chair), Desiree Pineda, MD, and Raymond Tu, MD; and alternate delegate Neal Barnard, MD.
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Dear Dr. Ehrenfeld,
The Medical Society of DC House of Delegates delegation requests that the AMA issue a formal statement and request Congress pass a technical correction to the CARES Act to ensure the District receives equal federal relief funding to the other 50 states.
During a normal House of Delegates meeting, we would submit a resolution for a formal AMA policy. However, this situation cannot wait until November. Right now the District is struggling to support its health infrastructure. While the District had planned on receiving $1.25 billion from the CARES Act, when it only received $500 million it prevented the District from funding key health infrastructures. Specifically, MSDC and the District to date have been unable to create loan or grant programs for physicians; the only healthcare grant the District has created is an emergency one for hospitals.
We do not ask the AMA to create policy on DC statehood; we only ask that the AMA tell Congress that the District has the same needs as a state. The District is a “hot zone” for COVID-19 and we have heard many of our independent members face dire financial situations. We could see a wholesale elimination of the private physician practice system in the District, not out of malice but because of a partisan political fight in the House and Senate.
This is a pressing matter that requires the moral authority of the AMA to speak up. AMA’s voice behind a Congressional technical correction may make the difference for many physicians in the nation’s capital. We urge you to take the small step to support funding for the District at an appropriate level.
Sincerely,
Peter Lavine, MD
Chair, Medical Society of DC Delegation to the AMA House of Delegates
On behalf of the MSDC delegation
Robert Hay Jr., CAE
Executive Vice President, MSDC
CC: Bruce A. Scott, MD, Speaker, AMA House of Delegates
Patrice Harris, MD, President, AMA
James Madara, MD, CEO & Executive Vice President
Todd Askew, Senior Vice President, Advocacy for AMA