Dear Colleague,
The American Medical Association
Resident and Fellow Section
(AMA-RFS) hosted its 31st Interim
Assembly Meeting in November
2007 in beautiful Honolulu, Hawaii.
More than 180 residents and fellows
from across the United States gathered
to carve out a new policy and
discuss major AMA initiatives.
At the forefront of discussion
was HR 2669, the College Cost Access
and Reduction Act, which
eliminated the 20/220 pathway for
economic hardship deferment starting
October 1, 2007. The 20/220
pathway had enabled many resident
physicians to qualify for economic
hardship deferment and
hold off payment for 3 years, without
accruing interest on subsidized
loans. Residents qualified if their
debt burden was greater than 20%
of their income, and if their income
minus their debt burden was not
greater than 220% of the federal
poverty level.
Through the AMA?s lobbying efforts,
the 20/220 pathway has been
temporarily reinstated by the Department
of Education until the fall
of 2008. This temporary fix gives
the AMA, and other interested organizations,
the necessary time to
obtain a more permanent legislative
solution. In fact, the S. 2303
bill has already been introduced,
with the goal of fully reinstating the
20/220 pathway. Congress can also
reinstate the pathway through the
Higher Education Reauthorization
Act. You can continue to help the
AMA with this effort by visiting the
AMA-RFS online at www.ama-assn.org/go/rfs, and, using our telephone
script, talking points, and Capwiz,
contact Congress members and
urge them to take action on this important
issue.
In addition, the assembled residents
and fellows from diverse backgrounds
discussed and adopted resolutions
on topics such as:
- Removing barriers of care to transgender patients
- Loss of status after qualified family medical leave during residency
- Telemedicine and licensure
- Monitoring of at-home call implementation by residency programs.
The intricacies of at-home call
were discussed at length, with some
residents noting that the potential for
abuse existed. The RFS and the
House of Delegates adopted a resolution
calling for the AMA to study
the impact of at-home call on resident
well-being and patient safety.
Fellow and AMA Trustee Samantha
L. Rosman, MD, updated the
RFS Assembly on the AMA?s campaign,
'Voice for the Uninsured."
This is a 3-year, multimillion dollar
campaign to raise awareness of the
problem and obtain coverage for the
uninsured. The campaign spots,
which are now blanketing the primary
and were played for attendees,
state that "1 out of 7 uninsured
Americans is 47 million too many."
Dr Rosman has spoken with the
presidential candidates of both parties
and continues to raise awareness
of this issue among voters. Check the
event spots and photos at www.voicefortheuninsured.org.
What else can you do about these
issues? Lobby, lobby, lobby. You can
lobby on these and other issues important
to resident and fellow physicians
at the National Advocacy
Conference/Lobby Day in Washington,
DC, on March 31, 2008. Residents,
fellows, and medical students
will converge on Capitol Hill to discuss
with legislators and their staff
issues important to physicians in
training and the future of medicine.
Resident and Fellow/Medical Student
Lobby Day is also an excellent
opportunity to increase your awareness
of legislative issues affecting
medicine, to foster relationships
with legislators through political involvement,
and to gain real-life education
in the practical aspects of
physician advocacy.
Kimberly Ruscher, MD
Delegate, AMA House of Delegates
Resident and Fellow Section
Governing Council
Michelle Powers, MD, MBA
Alternate Delegate, AMA House
of Delegates
Resident and Fellow Section
Governing Council
