From the October 6, 2017 ACP Advocate
The American College of Physicians pledges to continue speaking up for patients and physicians
Health care advocates breathed a collective sigh of relief in late September when Congress again failed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. But the American College of Physicians does not intend to savor the victory for long.
Instead, ACP plans to renew its focus on vigilance and advocacy.
“ACP is relieved and heartened that legislation to undo the ACA failed,” said Bob Doherty, senior vice president for governmental affairs and public policy. “We're proud of our role in blocking this bill as one of the leaders within American medicine and the health community, but we are determined to be watchful and stay on top of this.”
In late September, Republican leaders in the U.S. Senate pulled the so-called Graham-Cassidy bill that would have repealed the ACA and replaced it with a new system that ACP believed would have devastated American health care. The bill had appeared likely to sail through the House and be signed by the president if it first cleared the Senate. However, all Democratic senators and several Republican senators united to kill it at the Senate level. Efforts to woo the reluctant senators failed.
“We can and should feel proud that ACP – including its governance, chapters and 15,000 advocates strong, along with a broad coalition of front-line physician leaders and patient advocates everywhere – once again succeeded in this advocacy effort to defeat such harmful legislation,” the College said in a message to the members of its Advocacy for Internal Medicine network.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), one of the lead co-sponsors of the bill, is a physician and has been a member of ACP. He did not, however, heed the ACP's concerns.
Read the full article in ACP Advocate.
The ACP Advocate is a bi-weekly e-newsletter that provides ACP members with news about public policy issues affecting internal medicine and patient care.