APMA News - January/February 2024 - 28

federal advocacy forum
APMA's Top Advocacy Priorities
in 2024
By William S. Long, DPM
Happy New Year! Last year is in our rearview
mirror, and now our sights are set on accomplishing
goals in 2024. APMA has already been working
diligently to address the CMS proposed Medicare
physician reimbursement cut in the 2024 Physician
Fee Schedule. You probably have seen the emails
from APMA requesting your support by contacting
your federal legislators. Because you are their
constituent, your issues should be their issues and
should be addressed appropriately. I urge you to
contact your federal legislators and let them know
how these cuts affect your ability to practice podiatric
medicine and surgery.
Now is not the time to remain silent. It is becoming
more difficult and expensive to practice
with medical school loan repayment, staff salaries,
and over-inflated office supply prices, to name
just a few of the priorities we have to address for
our businesses.
Physicians should be receiving an increase in
pay, not the opposite!
This battle can be won by contacting your
legislator via the APMA eAdvocacy website (www.
apma.org/eAdvocacy). The website includes
numerous pre-written letters that you can send to
your policymakers in less than a minute.
Using the eAdvocacy page is just one of the
ways you can get involved in actively promoting
and protecting the profession before policymakers.
APMA is hosting an opportunity for members
to schedule meetings and visit with legislators on
Capitol Hill at our Legislative Conference in March.
We are excited to bring back this in-person event
after so many years. I hope that many of you can
attend and advocate for our profession. Legislators
tend to respond more favorably when we articulate
the issues and how they impact our ability
to practice and care for our patients. The more
diverse the group, the better. We need students,
residents, young physicians, and seasoned podiatric
physicians in attendance on Capitol Hill. There
is strength in numbers, and a decrease in Medicare
reimbursements affects all our bottom lines.
I recommend all APMA members visit
www.apma.org/federaladvocacy and take
some time to review the list of current bills before
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apmanews
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024
Congress that APMA has endorsed. The bills have
been categorized into three tiers by priority. At the
top of our list is the Helping Ensure Life- and LimbSaving
Access to Podiatric Physicians (HELLPP) Act.
This bill requires Medicaid to recognize podiatrists
as physicians and would streamline the Medicare
Therapeutic Shoe Program by reducing the red
tape and frustration we experience participating in
the program.
Another top-priority bill is the Veterans Affairs
Clinician Appreciation, Recruitment, Education,
Expansion, and Retention Support (CAREERS)
Act. In the September/October 2023 APMA News
Federal Advocacy Forum, I described in detail the
aggressive stance the VA is taking to retain and attract
podiatrists, which is a huge win for our profession.
The CAREERS Act will allow for modifications
in physician reimbursement to include allocations
for licensure exam costs and continuing medical
education fees.
If neither of these bills excites you, visit
www.apma.org/federaladvocacy for the complete
list of bills that APMA supports. I promise you
will find an issue that matches your interest. Every
month, the Legislative Committee and staff vet
new legislation related to health care to determine
if it has a positive or negative impact on our profession
and patient population. To put this task into
perspective, more than 10,000 bills are introduced
in Congress in a two-year cycle.
Serving as chair of the Legislative Committee
has been a tremendous honor. I have often referred
to this committee as a special forces unit.
The work that committee members perform daily
pushes the profession toward a day when podiatrists
will enjoy the freedom to practice to the full
extent of their residency training. The work of the
committee also ensures that we fight for the right
to be reimbursed for the services we provide.
The advancement and protection of our beloved
profession requires participation from every
podiatrist practicing. Sending a pre-written letter
from www.apma.org/eAdvocacy takes less than
one minute. With enough letters supporting or
opposing an issue, we can continue to advance
our profession for those who follow.
http://www.apma.org/federaladvocacy http://www.apma.org/eAdvocacy http://www.apma.org/eAdvocacy http://www.apma.org/eAdvocacy http://www.apma.org/federaladvocacy
APMA News - January/February 2024

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