Legislative Update: Why do you Need a Lobbyist at the PCMS?

Written by: Frank Severino, Sr.

Every day of the year, someone is making a decision debating an issue that could have a profound impact on the way our physicians do business. Your state legislature enacts laws—or changes existing ones—to the tune of several each year. This year alone there were 110 bills newly introduced. Whether or not a proposal among these bills ever reaches the Governor’s desk depend on the degree of support or opposition that is generated by your lobbyist at the PCMS. That’s exactly why lobbying is so very important. Elected officials don’t know the medical profession, and they are generally poorly informed of the impact their decisions have on the profession as a whole. Whether lobbying individually or as a group, the point is that your lobbying efforts are meant to inform as well as persuade on an issue of importance to you and the successful operation of your practice.

No legislator can possibly understand every fact of every industry. It’s practically guaranteed that very few legislators have a firm grip of the issues important to the Polk County Medical Society. The solution is clear—to have a real say on important issues, then we must have a presence in the Iowa State Capitol. Hiring and using your own lobbyist just may be the most effective way to do that.

As a lobbyist, I am someone who is paid to represent the interest of our members for the purpose of influencing and/or affecting legislation or regulations. I understand the policies of legislation, the process of how a bill becomes law, and how to influence bills before they become law. In addition, successful lobbyists have (? Shells or smells?) and government contacts they have nurtured over the years that can lead to a productive relationship for our members.

The following have their own lobbyists as you do:

•             Iowa Medical Group Management Association

•             Academy of Ophthalmology, Inc.

•             Cedar Rapids Physicians – Hospital Organization

•             College of American Pathologists

•             Free Clinics of Iowa

•             Iowa Academy of Family Physicians

•             Iowa Osteopathic Medical Association

•             Iowa Psychiatric Society

•             Iowa Society of Anesthesiologists

Can you afford NOT to be a member of the PCMS? This is an investment vital to your medical practice. Without realizing it, you benefit everyday from your membership in the PCMS. PCMS will withstand more changes, but you need to be a part of the organization to help direct the destiny of this profession.

Now…more than ever…You need PCMS, and PCMS needs You.