APMA News - November/December 2017 - 68

APMAPAC Update

POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
Promoting Professional Excellence and Patient Advocacy

APMA Life Members:
Making Meaningful APMAPAC Contributions
By Janet Simon, DPM
APMA Life Members continue to have
an impact on their profession in many
ways after their retirement from clinical
practice. Many of our 1,629 Life Members
are active in health-related leadership positions, and 105 of them have made their meaningful APMPAC
contribution this year. Contributions to APMAPAC by Life
Members are not a new phenomenon; they are clearly linked to
the concept of "paying it forward" to leave things better for
those who follow. APMAPAC provides a non-partisan avenue to
make a meaningful impact on public policy affecting podiatric
medicine and provides our members with the means for concerted political action.
I recently took the time to speak with a sampling of Life
Members to better understand what motivates them to continue to support APMAPAC.

LOTCHIE M.
KERCH, DPM
Seattle
What is the No. 1 reason
you continue to contribute to
APMAPAC in your retirement?
I currently serve on the State
of Washington Department of
Health Podiatric Disciplinary
Board. In [this] position and
with my financial contributions to the APMAPAC, it is my
goal that the APMA and [Washington State Podiatric Medical Association (WSPMA)] strive to maintain parity with our
MD and DO colleagues, especially in regard to access to podiatrists and reimbursement parity.
Professional legislative advocacy is tied to APMAPAC. Are
there examples you can give that contributed to your professional success?
APMA and WSPMA legislative advocacy have impacted
my private practice for decades. They have been successful
68 APMA News November/December 2017

over the years achieving reimbursement and access for patients to podiatric services in private and governmental insurance plans.
We must remain vigilant so as not to lose hard-won progress and to ensure our podiatric profession is positioned to
continue [delivering] high-quality care for our patients into
the future. It is my hope that we as a profession continue to
support legislative advocacy by our national and state member organizations.

ROSS TAUBMAN, DPM
Nashville, TN
What is the No. 1 reason
you continue to contribute to
APMAPAC in your retirement?
Podiatry is a small profession. It is easy to have our
voice 'drowned out' by larger
and more vocal professions.
The advancements in our profession would never have happened without political activism directed by the APMAPAC. The fact that I have retired
from clinical practice is irrelevant to my obligation as a steward of the profession to 'pay it forward.' I have had influential mentors in my professional life who taught me that I
have an obligation to leave things better for those after me.
I try to do that in all that I do, and giving to APMAPAC is
one of those ways.
Professional legislative advocacy is tied to APMAPAC. Are
there examples you can give that contributed to your professional success?
Virtually every legislative and regulatory advance that the
profession has had can be tied to political activism and the
APMAPAC. Inclusion in Medicare, the VA, the Medical Service Corps of the Armed Service, the Diabetic Shoe Bill, equal
pay and equal access legislation are the handful that come to
mind immediately.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of APMA News - November/December 2017