April 19, 2024

2024 Leadership & Advocacy Conference
Emergency Medicine Advocates Engage Legislators on Hot Button Issues for EM

ACEP's 2024 Leadership & Advocacy Conference allowed for opportunities to have challenging conversations about socially emerging issues, as well as productive, meaningful advocacy visits with legislators who have the power to improve care for our patients. Nearly 400 emergency physicians from 46 states participated in meetings on Capitol Hill with federal legislators and their health care staff on Tuesday during LAC.

Angela Wu, MD w/ medical student Avery Ford representing the ACEP DC chapter

Emergency physicians came together to share their unique and vital perspective with Congress on four pressing issues facing emergency medicine:

Addressing the ED Boarding Crisis

Attendees described how hospital emergency departments (EDs) have reached a breaking point due to the long-standing problem known as “boarding,” where patients are held in the ED following stabilization and care awaiting an inpatient bed or space in a tertiary facility where they can be safely transferred. Noting there is no one-size-fits-all solution to the boarding crisis, legislators were urged to cosponsor S. 1346/H.R. 5414, the bipartisan “Improving Mental Health Access from the Emergency Department Act.”

If you could not visit your legislators in person at LAC this year, you can still send a message to educate Congress about the boarding crisis and ask for their support.

Protecting Emergency Physicians from ED Violence

Attendees explained that violence in the emergency department is a serious and growing concern and shared personal stories of how they or colleagues have been victims of violent acts while providing care. Legislators were urged to cosponsor bipartisan legislation to address this problem: the “Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act” (H.R. 2663/S. 1176) and the “SAVE Act” (H.R. 2584/S. 2768).

If you could not visit your legislators in person at LAC this year, you can still urge Congress to support the SAVE Act and the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act.

Guaranteeing Due Process Protections for Emergency Physicians

The best interests of all patients are served when emergency physicians practice in a fair, equitable, and supportive environment. Safeguarding the right to due process for emergency physicians helps sustain and advance quality patient care and safety. Attendees urged legislators to cosponsor the bipartisan “Physician and Patient Safety Act,” to guarantee due process protections for emergency physicians, ensuring that those who provide our nation’s health care safety net can effectively advocate for all patients without fear of retaliation or termination.

Stay tuned for an opportunity to educate Congress about the need to guarantee due process rights for emergency physicians.

Ensuring Long-Term Stability for Medicare Reimbursements

For decades, Medicare physician reimbursements have failed to keep up with inflation, despite other Medicare participants receiving annual inflationary updates. The yearly threat – and implementation – of significant cuts to Medicare physician payments continues to destabilize our nation’s health care safety net. Rather than face a yearly scramble to address steep payment cuts, attendees urged Congress to work with emergency physicians to provide long-term stability for Medicare and to support and contribute to ongoing bipartisan efforts to stabilize the Medicare physician payment system.

Access additional information on all four issues.

*If you attended LAC, don’t forget to send thank you notes to the legislators and staff you met with through the AdvocacyDay app, and please complete the meeting feedback form!

Mark your calendar now for next year’s Leadership & Advocacy Conference: April 27-29, 2025 in Washington, DC! 

Rep. Deborah Ross (D-NC), center, with NC ACEP members at the Congressional Reception

911 Network Member of the Year Award
Chris Goode, MD, FACEP

Dr. Chris Goode w/ ACEP President Dr. Aisha Terry.

Chris Goode, MD, FACEP, serves as Chair of Emergency Medicine for WVU Medicine where he oversees care provided to more than 550,000 emergency department and urgent care patients in more than 20 locations throughout West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Ohio. With his team of 250 physicians, NPs, PAs, and resident physicians, he works to improve the acute care available across Appalachia. Dr. Goode also serves on the board of multiple EMS agencies throughout West Virginia confronting the challenges of rural EMS delivery.

As a leader in advocacy for emergency medicine and patients, he has made it a personal mission to get to know and educate his local and federal legislators with the sole intent of improving acute care for all who seek it. Most recently, he initiated the development of a physician advisory board for his Member of Congress and found opportunities to shore up EMS resources on the state level by working with the West Virginia Governor’s Administration.

NEMPAC
NEMPAC Makes an Impact at LAC24 

The NEMPAC Board of Trustees celebrated more than 200 ACEP and EMRA member VIP donors at the NEMPAC Reception on Sunday. 

LAC24 attendees donated more than $160,000 to support emergency medicine champions in the 2024 congressional elections.

Many conference attendees participated in NEMPAC-hosted events during LAC24, including events for Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Raul Ruiz, MD (D-CA), Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Kim Schrier, MD (D-WA), and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, MD (R-IA). These events provide an opportunity for ACEP members to interact with key legislators in a smaller group setting while demonstrating support for their campaigns with NEMPAC funds and personal donations from the attendees.  

Due to NEMPAC's support, ACEP members also attended events during LAC24 for Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX), Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA), and Eq. 

Dine-around for Rep. Kim Schrier, MD, (D-WA)

Dine-around for Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA)

Legislative and Regulatory News 

NSA Discussed at Health Care Committee Hearing

On Wednesday, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health held a hearing to discuss the Department of Health and Human Services’ 2025 FY budget, with Secretary Xavier Becerra testifying on the Administration’s health care priorities. Among a variety of topics addressed, much of the discussion centered around the flawed implementation of the No Surprises Act (NSA), enacted to take patients out of the middle of billing disputes between insurers and physicians. Reps. Larry Bucshon, MD (R-IN) and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, MD (R-IA) both engaged Secretary Becerra on the Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) process of the NSA, expressing concerns over delayed payments to providers who prevail in the arbitration process. Rep. Bucshon emphasized the challenges small practices in particular face against larger insurance companies and pushed for better enforcement mechanisms. The legislators also addressed the issue of “ghost contracting,” a practice employed by insurers to artificially lower Qualifying Payment Amounts (QPAs) issued to providers which further erodes fair payments for services. Additionally, Rep. Michael Burgess, MD (R-TX) highlighted the necessity of addressing “budget neutrality” in Medicare physician reimbursements, which require any increases related to updates or new codes or services be offset by corresponding decreases elsewhere. He raised concerns about potential cuts to physician reimbursements beginning in July when the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) is expected to be released, stressing the importance of ensuring stable compensation for health care providers. 

ACEP continues to work with the committee and departments responsible for the NSA to ensure it is implemented in a fair and balanced manner, as well as to ensure that Medicare’s physician payment system is set on a sustainable path.

ACEP Comments on FTC Drug Shortages RFI
On Monday, ACEP responded to a request for information (RFI) on drug shortages issued by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Our comments highlighted recent studies on root causes of drug shortages, including a lack of incentives to produce less profitable drugs; no recognition or reward for manufacturers for investing in and implementing mature quality management systems; “just-in-time” inventory management practices, driven by financial incentives and potential operational efficiencies; and logistical and regulatory challenges that make it difficult for the market to recover after a disruption.

ACEP Comments on USCDI v5
We also submitted comments on the United States Core Data for Interoperability Version 5 Draft (USCDI v5). Specific to emergency medicine, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) is proposing to incorporate a new data element, “Emergency Department Note,” that summarizes the care delivered in the emergency department (ED) to distinguish data from other Progress Notes, for the purposes of coordination of care and care continuity. We shared our concerns about this element, including restrictions on use and privacy concerns and implementation challenges in the rapidly changing AI landscape. We further reiterated that the Clinical Test data element should be designed more granularly than its current proposed form.

ACEP Advocacy Leaders Program

ACEP's Advocacy Leaders Program supports emergency physicians interested in taking their engagement and advocacy with federal legislators and staff to the next level. If you are interested in joining or already have a relationship with a federal legislator, complete this short form to receive more information.