NCMS President Donna Sullivan, MD, and Executive Director Maria Medina, EdD, joined physician leaders and medical society staff from around the state at the 2017 American Medical Association National Advocacy Conference in Washington, DC, Feb. 27-March 3. The trip included “hill visits” with members of our Colorado Congressional delegation, and the primary topic for these visits was federal health care reform.

The many meetings with Congressional leaders and their staff demonstrated how fluid the political situation was at the time, before the proposed “repeal and replace” plan failed to be taken up for a vote. During these visits Colorado physician leaders emphasized the need to protect recent gains in coverage and corresponding benefits to improved patient access to care. Specifically, physicians asked that a repeal of the Affordable Care Act occur only with a clearly identified and carefully considered replacement plan.

Importantly, the group of physicians emphasized the need to fix major issues within the current system, including the need for regulatory relief and leveling the playing field between mega-health plans and physicians as replacement plans are considered.

Besides federal health care reform, these congressional visits offered the chance to discuss other important topics like Colorado’s opioid abuse crisis, reducing prior authorization burdens, increasing drug pricing transparency and detailing how immigration issues affect physician workforce supply.