Day 3 Blog (Monday, November 14)
AUA Delegates, Drs. Hans Arora and Richard Pelman, AUA Alternate Delegate Dr. Jason Jameson and AUA Resident/Fellow Section Delegate, Dr. Ruchika Talwar joined more than 600 other physicians at the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates (HoD) 2022 Interim Meeting to consider resolutions and reports covering clinical practice, payment, medical education and public health topics. View our previous updates from the meeting.
On Monday, the AUA delegates spent the day in the general session where the House debated and voted on various measures relating to AMA Governance and Finance, Medical Practice, and Legislation. Here are some of the reports and resolutions of interest:
- Resolution 801 – Parity in Military Reproductive Health Insurance Coverage for All Service Members and Veterans (Young Physicians Section)
- The House agreed to amend and adopt this measure, which encourages the AUA to support expansion of reproductive health insurance coverage to all active-duty service members and veterans eligible for medical care regardless of service-connected disability, marital status, gender or sexual orientation. The AUA supported this measure as it is an extension of its current federal legislative priority to improve prostate cancer care and research and ensure equitable infertility care for wounded warriors and veterans.
- Resolution 817 – Promoting Oral Anticancer Drug Parity (Medical Student Section)
- The House agreed to ultimately pass an alternate resolution urging the AMA to work with interested stakeholders to advocate for cost-sharing parity between injectable/infusible and oral therapy for cancer. The AUA supported the original measure during the reference committee hearing, siting the importance of patients receiving affordable care in the setting and method of their choosing.
- Resolution 201 – Physician Reimbursement for Interpreter Services (American Association of Clinical Urologists)
- The House amended and passed this measure, which urges the AMA to prioritize and work with other state and specialty societies to advocate for adequate physician reimbursement for interpreter services. It was amended by the House to include American Sign Language as part of the qualifying interpreter services. The AUA was a cosponsor and testified in support of the original resolution during the reference committee hearing.
- Resolution 203 – International Medical Graduate Employment (Missouri)
- The House amended and passed this measure to support federal legislation that reduces the administrative burden and streamlines the process of hiring International Medical Graduates. The AUA supported the concept of the resolution due to its longstanding policy of addressing urologic workforce shortages here in the United States.
- Resolution 224 – Fertility Preservation (American Society of Clinical Urology)
- This measure was ultimately adopted by the House urging the AMA to advocate for third party payer health insurance carriers to make available insurance benefits for the diagnosis and treatment of recognized male and female infertility. In addition, Res. 224 requests the AMA to support state and federal legislation requiring payment for fertility preservation therapy services when caused by necessary medical treatments.
- Resolution 214 – Universal Good Samaritan Statute (Georgia)
- The House voted to refer this measure for further consideration by the AMA. The AUA testified in support of Res. 214, which would direct the AMA to advocate for a national “universal” Good Samaritan Statute. However, during the debate the issue of not preempting existing state law that is more protective than a national minimum standard was a main focal point. As a result, it was referred due to this complexity of the interplay between state laws and federal law.
Tomorrow, the House will complete its business after considering reports and resolutions from Reference Committee K (Public Health), Reference Committee on Amendments to Constitution and Bylaws and Reference Committee C (Medical Education).
The AMA HoD is the principal policy-making body of the AMA. It represents the views and interests of a diverse group of member physicians from more than 170 societies. These delegates meet twice a year to establish policy on health, medical, professional and governance matters.