Eyeworld

EW NEWS & OPINION 18 September 2017 has increased my awareness of the political process and has spurred me to be involved at the national and local levels. William Myers, MD (with House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady) ASCRS Governing Board Chicago It is important for ophthalmologists to travel to Washington, D.C. to meet with their members of Con- gress because the best way to register your concerns is to get face time with those who make our laws and set policy. The Fly-In briefings included top leadership from legislative and executive branches, who actually took and answered our questions. This was punctuated with funny but poignant commentary from Tucker Carlson, who skewered the deci- sion-making process on all sides. We met with key healthcare staffers for Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), both grassroots advocate as well as our key policy issues can be found at www.ascrsgrassroots.org. —Brock Bakewell, MD, Chair, ASCRS Government Relations Committee James Bryan III, MD ASCRS Government Relations Committee Chapel Hill, North Carolina The value of attending the Fly-In is immeasurable. As physicians, we often are so wrapped up in our day-to-day lives that we ignore the impact of rules and regulations that affect our practices both financially and clinically. The Fly-In allows phy- sicians to learn about these policies and lend a voice to how they impact us on a daily basis. Having attended the Fly-In several times, I have always been impressed with the quality of the speakers, the help from lobbying staff on learning about the issues, and the value of the "asks" that we bring to the Hill. The experience Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX), as well as Sen. Rand Paul, MD (R-KY), Reps. Phil Roe (R-TN) and Raul Ruiz, MD (D-CA), and others. This year's focus for ASCRS and ASOA attendees was on regulatory relief and the repeal of the Inde- pendent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). With bipartisan-supported IPAB repeal bills in both the House and the Senate, now is the time for Congress to act. If IPAB is not repealed, Medicare spending could trigger IPAB payment cuts—posing a threat to healthcare access for the nation's 55 million Medicare benefi- ciaries and directly affecting phy- sician reimbursement. Participants also urged Congress to utilize its oversight of the Centers for Medi- care & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the FDA to provide regulatory relief from burdens associated with oner- ous program requirements related to such issues as prior authorization, sunset quality program penalties, narrow provider networks, and com- pounded drugs. To give you an idea of what it's like to participate in the Fly-In, I asked several attendees to share their experiences. If you can't make it to Washington, you can meet with your legislators in their state offices or invite them to visit your practice. Seizing opportunities to connect with them allows you to forge a relationship that can help to advance ophthalmology's agenda. If you are interested in attending next year's Fly-In, please contact Tami O'Brien, ASCRS manager of PAC and grassroots, at tobrien@ascrs.org. More details on being an eyeContact ASCRS•ASOA members reflect on this year's Fly-In, which featured Dr. Price, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, and Sen. Rand Paul, MD H ave you ever felt a little guilty for not being politi- cally active to help protect the profession of ophthal- mology? If so, you are not alone, and an easy way to assuage these feelings is to participate in the Alliance of Specialty Medicine Legislative Fly-In. In July, 30 ASCRS physicians and 17 ASOA administra- tors traveled to Washington, D.C. to advocate for ophthalmology during the annual event. Our members represented 24 states and 42 con- gressional districts and included five recipients of the Young Eye Surgeons (YES) Legislative Fly-In Scholarship. Participants met on Capitol Hill with other members of the Alliance's 13 specialty medical societies to learn about current legislative and regulatory issues affecting specialty medicine, after which they met with their congressional representatives and senators to lobby for our issues. In addition to their Hill meetings, attendees heard from an impressive line-up of speakers, including Secre- tary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Tom Price, MD, officials from the FDA and the White House, po- litical commentator Tucker Carlson, House Ways and Means Committee HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD, is keynote speaker at 2017 Alliance of Specialty Medicine Legislative Fly-In ASCRS President-Elect Thomas Samuelson, MD, Government Relations Committee Chairman Brock Bakewell, MD, ASCRS President Bonnie Henderson, MD, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, and ASOA President Bill Koch HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD

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