Paige: With momentum for positive policy change on Capitol Hill, my goal is to leverage RheumPAC and member advocacy to capitalize on that momentum as much as possible. It is imperative that we use our grassroots programs to show Congress what policies our members care about.
Colby: As our members know well, rheumatologists are among the lowest paid specialties, and their patient footprint is disproportionately of Medicare age. I hope to increase the role our members have in regulatory advocacy.
TR: How do the various members of the advocacy team work together?
Joseph: Advocacy really doesn’t work well when it is siloed. For example, because of the way insurance is regulated, advocacy has to take place at the federal and state level. We collaborate across the team to ensure our policy priorities are uniformly aligned and reflected in state and federal policy.
Lennie: We all meet every week at least once to stay in the loop on any issues that may bleed into each other’s policy spheres. For example, Congress makes laws that draw the boundaries around Medicare, and that’s my area. But the [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] (CMS) puts out the rules each year with the specifics of Medicare, which the regulatory and practice teams analyze. Then the private payers take cues from those terms.
Colby: In a federalist system that emphasizes division of powers and checks and balances, advocacy teams in any sector must be cohesive, well-oiled machines. The ACR is top-notch in this area. For example, we recently had a meeting with the CMS on underwater biosimilars, G2211 restrictions and physician reimbursement. Because these are regulatory issues that deal with the ACR’s work on drug and coding policy, I had to pull in the ACR’s Meredith Strozier (payer advocacy and policy) and Antanya Chung (coding and billing) as well as Chris Phillips, MD, and Rebecca Shepherd, MD, from the ACR’s Committee on Rheumatologic Care. It was a highly intersectional and productive meeting that is going to lead to further work in the immediate future with the CMS.
TR: Your work may seem “behind the scenes” to many members. What do you wish members knew about your work and how it affects them?
Joseph: Advocacy doesn’t take place in a vacuum, and there are a lot of different players in rheumatology advocacy who are also doing a lot of really great work. We work with those organizations on an almost daily basis, and it takes the rheumatology community working together toward a common goal to move the needle. When we get to celebrate a win, we also recognize that it takes many different organizations working behind the scenes—and working together—to achieve those wins.
