From the
President
Bruce A. Scott, MD
GLMS President | [email protected]
57
Go to the doctors’ lounge at any hospital
and you will quickly notice that physicians
like to complain about what is happening
to the practice of medicine – quite often
justifiably. Our profession is under attack
and many seek to control how we practice.
Never before have so many wanted to practice medicine ... without a medical degree.
The mayor, city council, legislators, Governor and even the President make decisions
on how we should practice medicine, often
without even asking our opinion. Let’s expand Medicaid … and then figure out the
details of how physicians will deliver the
care, pass legislation to reduce prescription
drug abuse … and worry later about the
impact on physicians and their patients that
have legitimate pain. Let’s mandate “meaningful use” without knowing whether the
changes are even usable much less meaningful.
Unfortunately, complaining doesn’t get
much fixed. Whether we like it or not, a
good portion of what affects our practices,
our patients and our profession is determined by elected officials. Our GLMS Policy and Advocacy Team is energized and
involved, meeting with legislators, hosting
and attending campaign fundraisers for
candidates, and educating legislators on issues important to physicians and patients.
Meanwhile, the vast majority of physicians
sit on the sidelines – well, actually most
are not on the sidelines, they haven’t even
shown up for the game.
Of the approximately 3,600 GLMS members, 24 have made a contribution to the
Kentucky Physicians’ PAC (KPPAC) in
2014. Some physicians say, “I don’t agree
with everything KPPAC does, so I contribute directly to candidates.” After regularly
hearing this excuse, I did a little public
record investigating. In fact, as of June 30,
only 33 members have contributed to one or
more individual candidates this year. Add it
up, 24 + 33 and you get a grand total of 57
members of GLMS that have made a financial investment in the political process in
our state in 2014. When I first learned these
numbers I couldn’t believe it; I suspected it
was low but this is embarrassing. I know I
have heard more than 57 complaining.
In 2011, the optometrists made the path
to legislative success very clear. They were
able to get controversial legislation passed
that was opposed by most major newspapers in Kentucky, the KMA, state and national ophthalmology associations and a
majority of citizens. How did they do it? According to a recent Courier-Journal article,
they launched “a well-orchestrated lobbying
blitz in which white-coated optometrists
flooded the capital and the Kentucky Optometric Association PAC and its members
gave more than $400,000 in political donations.” To put this in perspective, the total
collected by KPPAC in 2013 was $54,600.
There are less than 600 optometrists in Kentucky and over 10,000 physicians; and one
could argue that physicians, on average,
earn more money than optometrists.
In addition to the money they donated,
optometrists also developed relationships
with their legislators. Contrast that with the
congressman who recently told me that in
four terms in the Kentucky House no physician from his district has ever visited him
in Frankfort.
The time for being on the sidelines is
over. This is a critical election year which
will likely determine the balance of power
in Frankfort for the next several sessions.
We have the opportunity to elect pro-medicine candidates. There is strong potential
for several pieces of legislation important to
medicine to be introduced in the next Kentucky legislative session. Many believe professional liability reform, including medical
review panels, has a real chance of passage.
Do you think the trial lawyers PAC will
have more than 24 donors? Legislation has
been written to make contracting between
physicians and third party payers more fair.
Do you think Kentucky’s insurers, who have
hundreds of thousands of dollars in their
national PACs, will be on the sidelines?
More legislation on expansion of scope of
practice is anticipated, and the nurse practitioners, chiropractors, podiatrists and
pharmacists have PAC participation that far
exceeds physicians.
Although some have been critical of
KPPAC, I am amazed at its success, particularly considering the lack of physician
involvement. In the recent Kentucky primaries, KPPAC supported five candidates
and each candidate was