LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY DAY

Legislative Advocacy Day 2022

by: Sarah Holzmann and Yusur Alsalihi

On Tuesday, April 19th, members of the American Medical Association (AMA) and California Medical Association (CMA) Chapter of the California Health Sciences University (CHSU) College of Osteopathic Medicine visited Sacramento for the 2022 CMA Legislative Advocacy Day. The student attendees included the authors of this article, Sarah Holzmann (OMS-II) and Yusur Alsalihi (OMS-II), as well as Rajvarun Grewal (OMS-I). Student Doctor Holzmann is the founder and President of CHSU’s AMA and CMA Chapter and the university’s delegate at the June 2022 national AMA meeting. She also serves as a member of the AMA Committee for Health Information Technology. Student Doctors Alsalihi and Grewal recently ran for and were elected to serve as the Medical Students Section’s Vice-Chair of Legislative Affairs and the Vice-Chair of Policy, respectively. Thanks to the Fresno Madera Medical Society (FMMS), we had the pleasure to meet with Representative Frank Bigelow. He is serving in California State Assembly for District 5, encompassing the central Sierra Nevada area. During this meeting with Assemblymember Bigelow, our goal was to advocate specifically for SB 250 and AB 2132; the former is a comprehensive approach to reforming the prior authorization process. The latter seeks to promote individuals from diverse, underrepresented communities to fund their education from college to residency. Following an excellent introduction of the two bills from Dr. Ranjit Singh Rajpal, a CMA trustee and interventional cardiologist in Madera, Mr. Bigelow shared a personal account of a recent medical field encounter that captured the essence of the first issue at hand. He spoke openly to the group about the excessive number of authorizations he had to go through to achieve proper medical care for a simple inpatient procedure, highlighting how excessive authorization forms hinder effective and timely access to care. We then discussed why this bill is especially crucial for our county. There is a demonstrable administrative burden placed on physicians that is exacerbated when fewer doctors are practicing per capita.

Through SB 250, we hope that physicians will have more time to care for patients without unnecessary delay and interference from health plans. The second bill, which was put forth by Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua, has the ultimate goal of creating a physician workforce that reflects our state’s patient population. AB 2132 also incorporates a commitment to practice in a rural or medically underserved area after residency, which addresses the physician shortage, particularly in areas with the greatest need. As students, we sought to attend a university whose mission includes “inspiring a diverse student body to commit to careers that serve our region,” thus, we were highly motivated to share our perspectives on this critical topic. SD Alsalihi spoke out about her status as underrepresented in medicine (URM) and how students like herself struggle to meet the high costs required to finance their medical education. These financial barriers strongly disincentivize URM students from accepting lower-paying practice opportunities and specialties in underserved areas. Although students like us are proud to be a part of CHSU and its mission, we recognize that our actions can only go so far without adequate support from the state. In addition to the privilege of advocating on behalf of a brighter future for medical practice, we also had the pleasure of learning about Bigelow’s younger days driving a race car and what drives his ambition to lead. Even in the first few minutes of meeting with the representative, it was evident that despite his physical presence in the capital, or technically the “swing-space” a few blocks away while the government building is under construction, his heart remains in the Central Valley. The stories he shared about his 40+ years of experience as a volunteer firefighter further highlighted his passion for serving our area. As one example, he shared a recent memory from when he stepped up to provide his assistance during a wildfire. While on the phone with a current fire department leader, he offered to drive down from his office back to our district in a swift attempt to rescue hundreds of cows belonging to a local rancher. With only so much time allotted to discuss these critical issues and the policies’ potential solutions, we left the assembly member’s office. We made our way back to the conference. Our disappointment quickly transformed into enthusiasm when the Attorney General of California was welcomed to the stage of the banquet hall. In his keynote speech, Robert Andres Bonta spoke of his background. A day after his birth, the Philippine president signed a proclamation that placed the Philippines under Martial Law. The Bonta family then moved to California when he was two months old. During his address, he joked that when they moved to the states, his mother would simultaneously plan his birthday parties alongside protests to celebrate the first occasion and express continued dissent for the latter. The true impact of the speech came when AG Bonta spoke about the impact the affordable care act has on everyday California and how the act has helped provide coverage to more of the state’s population. His speech highlighted recent efforts to minimize and overthrow the act and how his office and neighboring states have acted to protect the Affordable Care Act. His speech left the crowd in a standing ovation, reminding us why we were there and of all the work still to be done. In light of a first-year neurology midterm and all of the histology relevant to nephrotic syndrome awaiting our second year, we returned to Clovis not even 24-hours later. Still, our journey did not come to a halt there. Before the end of the academic year, our chapter plans to host a virtual meeting to discuss the same policies with different members of the House or Senate. We aim to continue educating our peers and the public about these issues to convey their importance for the future of medicine.