LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

Looking Ahead
Academy sets priorities for next Texas Legislature

By Tom Banning

“The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.” Those immortal words from 1960s black activist Malcolm X can best describe the mood and belief family physicians from across Texas held as they convened in The Woodlands for TAFP’s Annual Session and Scientific Assembly to chart the Academy’s course for the following year.

The Commission on Legislative and Public Affairs, which is responsible for developing and implementing legislative policy for the Academy, met to review, debate and make recommendations for priority issues for the next legislative session. TAFP’s Board of Directors adopted the following legislative priorities for the 2005 session:

• Improve access to care by increasing the number of covered lives in programs such as Medicaid and CHIP, and promote appropriate benefit coverage in such programs. Provide affordable resources to middle and lower income families who are currently without any form of health care coverage through innovative legislation and cooperative ventures with the business community.

• Physicians are currently economically pressured. Any further attempt to decrease physician resources through taxation, devaluation of services or increases in the “hassle factor” will be aggressively resisted unless appropriate financial incentives offset the impact.

• Carefully monitor medical liability carriers through legislative and regulatory means to be sure medical liability premiums decrease significantly in response to 2003 tort reform initiatives.

• Through educational initiatives and legislation, address the medical and financial complications of obesity to the public.

• Given the impending significant shortage of the physician workforce, TAFP will work to increase funding for graduate medical education.

• Support efforts to maintain high-quality medical care through a Board of Medical Examiners that appropriately protects the public and works with physicians to eliminate “bad doctors.”

How Can I Help?

Some people believe 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 79th Texas Legislature, which convenes Jan. 11, 2005, will be addressing a number of issues important to family physicians including sunset of the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners, property tax reform, Medicaid and CHIP funding, graduate medical education and public health initiatives, among others.

You can help preserve quality medical care by participating in any one of TAFP’s legislative initiatives. Take your pick from the list to the right.

To create an effective voice, family physicians must be willing to be part of the solution, which means making a personal commitment to supporting the causes you believe are important and supporting political candidates who will represent patients’ and physicians’ interests. Becoming involved in TAFP’s legislative program will help ensure family medicine continues to have a strong voice in the Capitol.

Physician of the Day Program

TAFP is proud to again sponsor the physician of the day program for the 79th Texas Legislature. This will mark the 33rd year of the program.

The family physician of the day works in a primary care clinic located in the Capitol extension and treats anyone sick or injured on the Capitol grounds. Family physicians of the day are introduced on the House and Senate floors, by the legislator from the district in which they practice and their names become part of the official legislative record. Family physicians have volunteered their time and services since 1971 for every regular and special session of the Texas Legislature.

We are excited to once again announce that the TAFP will offer Texas medical students an opportunity to do a preceptorship with the Physician of the Day. The goal is to expose Texas medical students to the broad scope of family medicine.

The Physician of the Day program is coordinated and organized by TAFP and co-sponsored by the Travis County Medical Society, TMA, Texas Osteopathic Medical Association, Texas Department of Health and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

If you would like to volunteer for the Physician of the Day program, please fill out and return the form, which is located on page 32.

Legislative To-Do List

1. Sign up as a Key Contact. TAFP’s Key Contact program seeks to identify family physicians who are willing to serve as a resource 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 on problems and solutions regarding medical issues. Legislators certainly hear from others with far less insight than physicians have.

2. 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 family physician is in the house during every legislative session since.

3. Take a day out of your practice and spend it at the Capitol as an honorary TAFP lobbyist working with TAFP public affairs staff. You’ll visit legislators and their staff and discuss issues important to medicine. The experience will provide you an up-close and personal view of how laws are made.

4. Join TAFPPAC. The Texas Academy of Family Physicians Political Action Committee speaks on behalf of family physicians and their patients through grassroots involvement and political campaign participation and contributions. TAFPPAC evaluates candidates for public office and determines what type and how much support to provide

a candidate’s election bid. Through its excellent grassroots network of physicians, TAFPPAC has supported winning candidates in more than 90 percent of contested races.

For more information on any of these programs or how to be involved, please contact Tom Banning, TAFP Director of Public Affairs at (512) 329-8666 or tbanning@tafp.org.