• 77th Legislature

• How You can Help

Questions or Comments? Contact Tom Banning, Director of Legislative Affairs

Sign Up to be a Legislative Key Contact

The Commission on Legislative and Public Affairs, which is responsible for developing and implementing legislative policy for the Academy, met to review and debate a variety of issues including:

• a wide range of legislative interim studies, like expanding telemedicine, protecting patient-specific information, and evaluating Medicaid managed care,

• proposals pending before the Ad Hoc Committee on Collaborative Practice, such as expanding prescriptive authority for controlled substances, collaborative versus site-based prescriptive authority, and Medicaid reimbursement for nurse practitioners and physician assistants,

• a Texas Medical Association sponsored study of the state’s medical malpractice claims environment,

• a pending lawsuit against Millman & Robertson on pediatric guidelines,

• the Attorney General’s rules for Senate Bill 1468, the Physician Negotiation Bill

• the Aetna Agreement of Voluntary Compliance

• the recent ruling by the 5th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals on Senate Bill 386, the HMO Liability bill.

TAFP’s Board of Directors adopted a policy recommendation from the Commission on Legislative and Public Affairs regarding telemedicine. That policy states, "The TAFP understands the value and utility of telemedicine technology in underserved areas. However, the citizens in these areas deserve quality health care from qualified and properly trained providers. TAFP is extremely concerned that telemedicine will lower the standard of care if local evaluation is provided by non-physicians whose scope of practice extends beyond their training, experience and competence. TAFP’s concern extends to the question of loss of continuity of care both during normal office hours and beyond."

If you would like additional information on any of the issues discussed by the Commission on Legislative and Public Affairs, please contact TAFP legislative staff at (512) 329-8666 or you can e-mail questions or comments to tbanning@tafp.org.

77th Texas Legislature

Some people think that politics have no real impact on their lives—nothing could be further from the truth. In this day and age, state and federal lawmakers are making decisions that directly affect your patients and your practice. The 77th Texas Legislature, which convenes January 9th, 2001, will be addressing a number of issues important to family practice including Medicaid reform, medical privacy, rural and border health issues, graduate medical education, and access to pharmaceuticals.

You can help preserve quality medical care and the physician’s control of medical decisions by participating in any one of TAFP’s legislative initiatives. Take your pick from the list below.

To create an effective voice, physicians must be willing to be part of the solutions—which means making a personal commitment to supporting the causes you believe are important and the political candidates who will represent patients’ and physicians’ interests. Becoming involved in TAFP’s legislative program will help ensure family practice has a strong voice in the capitol when the legislature reconvenes in 2001.

Sign Up to be a Legislative Key Contact

How can I help?

1. Sign up as a Key Contact. TAFP’s Key Contact program seeks to identify family physicians who are willing to serve as resources to their legislators, advocating the values of family physicians and their patients. It is vital for physicians to stay in touch with their elected officials to voice their views of problems and solutions regarding medical issues. They certainly hear from others with far less insight than physicians have.
2. Participate in the Legislative Visitation Program. TAFP’s Legislative Visitation Program is designed to educate elected officials about issues TAFP will be working on during the next legislative session and to help family physicians begin to build personal relationships with their elected officials. The Visitation Program contains background on state senators and state representatives, as well as material on core issues that can be used in discussions with legislators.
3. Participate in the Physician of the Day Program. As a service to the Texas Legislature, TAFP provides a physician in the capitol during the legislative session. This tradition began in 1971 and TAFP has made sure a doctor’s in the house at every legislative session since.
4. Join TAFPPAC. TAFPPAC is the acronym for the Texas Academy of Family Physicians Political Action Committee. TAFPPAC speaks on behalf of family physicians and their patients through grassroots involvement, personal relationships with elected officials, and political campaign participation and contributions. TAFPPAC evaluates candidates for public office and determines what type and how much support to provide in a candidate’s election bid. Through its excellent grassroots network of physicians, TAFPPAC has supported winning candidates in nearly 90 percent of contested races.

October 16, 2000