Massachusetts Chapter Advocacy Mission
Our mission is to advocate for policy change that improve access, quality and effectiveness of health care for patients in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In addition to a passionate advocacy for our patients, we advocate for policies that enhance the practice of medicine for physicians and allow us to provide the highest quality, efficient care to our communities.
The committee has 20-30 members that meet quarterly to discuss policy issues and advocate for them through various efforts including speaking with legislators and providing education to Chapter members, policy makers, and the general public. In between meetings, subcommitees and working groups move forward with advocacy efforts through collaborations with allied community organizations.
2022 Virtual Advocacy Day
March 30, 2022
Advocacy Subcommittees
- Advocacy Day - This subcommittee is responsible for organizing Advocacy Day at the State House, including selecting legislation and speakers. They also organize the meetings between participating members and their state legislators to discuss important legislation.
- Advocacy Education - This subcommittee is dedicated to bringing training in various advocacy skills to chapter members. Our goal is for members to feel well-equipped to tackle issues affecting their patients and practice through various forms of advocacy ranging from conversations with legislators, to writing op-eds and coalition-building.
- Opioid Use Disorder - This subcommittee is focused on addressing the opioid epidemic by increasing access to care through education and advocacy.
- Professions in Medicine (POM) - This subcommittee is focused on promoting the health and well being of physicians and reducing the administrative burden on physicians. The POM subcommittee was active in developing the strategy for discussing the Fail First bill during our Advocacy Day.
- Racial Justice - This subcommittee aims to promote legislation which improves racial equity in the healthcare system. They have supported and promoted bills such as the Safe Communities Act in Massachusetts.
2022 HIGHLIGHTS:
- HPPC remains engaged in working with Rep Vargas and his coalition to eliminate religious exemptions to vaccines in schools. Members also testified in front of the house to promote this bill and wrote an op-ed in Commonwealth Magazine https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/abolish-the-vaccine-religious-exemption/
- One of our members also wrote a key Op-Ed in Commonwealth Magazine to promote Telemedicine across straight lines to improve access to care. https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/telemedicine-should-be-able-to-cross-state-lines/
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During our most recent Advocacy Day at the State House on March 30, 40 MA ACP members met with MA legislators to advocate for bills to improve access to care including increasing access to treatment for opiate-use disorders through pilot of Safe Consumption Sites and streamlining application processes to safety net programs for our patients through a common application. The specific bills will advocated for were:
S.1272/H.2088 An Act relative to preventing overdose deaths and increasing access to treatment
S.761/H.1290 An act to streamline access to critical public health and safety-net programs through common application
H 1311 An Act relative to step therapy and patient safety.
H. 2411 An Act relative to vaccines and preventing future disease outbreakFor more information about these bills, please read our leave behind documents.