APMA News - March 2011 - (Page 61)

APMAPAC Update Message from the Chair Help Reverse the 70-30 Split By Gerald D. Peterson, DPM The initial numbers for Campaign 2011 are in, and we have raised an outstanding $134,152 for political action in January alone. Thanks to all of our contributors for again stepping up to the plate so early in the year. Supporting members of Congress who understand podiatric medicine’s importance in the health-care arena is vital to our ongoing success politically and legislatively. However, my personal frustration with the apathy of the majority of our profession (70 percent non-donors in 2010) is high. I don’t understand why our membership fails year after year to understand the importance of participating in political action. Why don’t they contribute? If you are a non-contributor and you read this article, please e-mail me at pac@apma.org and let me know why you don’t participate in one of the most basic American rights: political activism. Contributing to APMAPAC gives you a voice in Washington. We continue to seek recognition for podiatrists as physicians under Medicaid. We continue to fight for inclusion in payment incentives. We continue to battle to be included in programs that provide scholarships and loan repayment. When you contribute to the PAC, you make our collective voice louder in all these discussions. If we were truly a united profession, we would stand together, and 100 percent of APMA’s members would be involved in political action by contributing to APMAPAC. If you perceive a lack of progress on the issues that bother you, put your money where your complaints are. Contribute to APMAPAC and make a difference. Visit APMA’s website to catch up on all the things our association does for its members (www.apma.org/members). APMA is gaining ground on Title XIX with every congressional session, and solutions to the physician fee fix in Medicare are finally getting some real debate in Congress. If you think you’re frustrated with how long it’s taking to get our Title XIX initiative passed, remember that Congress has been debating this “physician fee fix” since the ’90s! How much more can you take without doing something to control your own destiny? Contribute to APMAPAC today. Exercise your right as an American citizen to have a voice in government, and fight for our rights as podiatrists. After making your own contribution, give this article to an APMA member who doesn’t contribute so he or she will see why contributing is so critical to our success. We all need to help shoulder the burden of progress! Your APMAPAC coordinators and ambassadors are doing a fantastic job getting more members involved. Please help the APMAPAC Board, coordinators, and ambassadors raise contributions for political action. Become an APMAPAC ambassador yourself and solicit other members to give, as well. If every contributing member got just two non-contributing members to give, the figures would be reversed—30 percent would be the number of non-contributors and 70 percent would be contributors! Think how easy that is. Don’t let the non-contributors escape. Help us help them—and you—succeed. Contribute to APMAPAC today! n Contact Dr. Peterson at pac@apma.org. APMAPAC Champion: Garry W. Neltner, DPM It is with great excitement that the APMAPAC Board recognizes one of its most successful and longest-serving coordinators, Garry W. Neltner, DPM, as this month’s APMAPAC Champion. Dr. Neltner is the APMAPAC coordinator for Kentucky, and he is someone who not only talks the talk, but walks the walk. Dr. Neltner became interested in podiatric medicine through a neighbor who was a podiatrist. He recalls cutting grass for the couple next door and being paid a few dollars and a glass of lemonade. At one point he visited the neighbor’s practice and thought, as much as an 18-year-old could think into the future, “This is attainable!” Dr. Neltner followed through on that instinct and pursued a career in podiatric medicine. After attending Thomas Moore College for his undergraduate education in business administration, he enrolled at the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine (OCPM) and graduated in 1963. While at OCPM, he worked three jobs to pay for his education because student loans were unavailable at that time. He worked as a shoe salesman, in a hospital as an orderly, and as a busboy in an Italian restaurant in Cleveland’s “Little Italy.” After graduation, he completed a clerkship with anAPMAPAC Champion continued on page 65 APMA News March 2011 61 http://www.apma.org/workingforyou/content.cfm?ItemNumber=1062&navItemNumber=689

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of APMA News - March 2011

APMA News - March 2011
President’s Message
Contents
APMA News Debuts
Meet the Candidates for Board of Trustees
Should You Sign That Contract?
Are Cash Balance Pension Plans Right for Your Practice?
FDA On Record: Off-Label Promotion
Mentors Cast a Long Shadow
Technofile
Resolutions Submissions
Young Voices
Federal Advocacy Forum
Members Who Know Media
Build a Better Practice with Tools from The National
Annual Scientific Meeting Preliminary Program
Annual Scientific Meeting Registration Form
Annual Scientific Meeting Sponsors
In Short
APMA Out and About
Worthy of Note
APMAPAC Update
Small Business 101
Affiliates Corner
Development Update
2011 Call for Awards Nominations
Classified Advertising
Dates to Remember
Advertising Index

APMA News - March 2011