NCMS PAC Supporters Hear from Rep. Dollar at the Annual Meeting

PAC-DollarOn the Saturday morning of the Annual Meeting, NCMS PAC supporters got together for breakfast. Matthew Martin, MD, chairman of the NCMS PAC Board of Directors, opened by thanking donors and addressing the state of the PAC and surrounding fundraising initiatives. Following his comments, Chip Baggett, NCMS Director of Legislative Relations, introduced the featured speaker, Rep. Nelson Dollar (R-Wake), who is the Senior Appropriations Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee in the NC House of Representatives.

More than 110 donors heard Rep. Dollar speak about the importance of input from NCMS members on legislative issues and political participation. He said, “It’s critical, in my view, to be engaged in the PAC, but also to engage on a personal level with your member of the House and Senate.” Rep. Dollar also spoke about the need for legislators to understand the challenges and issues facing the house of medicine. Other issues he addressed included:

  • Medicaid: Rep. Dollar believes there are problems in the management of the program. He is a member of the advisory committee appointed by the Governor on the issue. He also expressed concerns with managed care and asked attendees to consider taking on more risk. His goal is to preserve what’s best in the program.
  • NC Tracks: Discussion focused around the Legislative Oversight Committee hearing on the issue. There were questions about the liability of the vendor, CSC, if problems are not resolved.
  • Mental Health: There were questions about placement of mentally ill patients and funding for institutions that house them. Rep. Dollar predicted that we will see consolidation of LME/MCOs to four.
  • Certificate of Need: Rep. Dollar said that there were “large forces” within the health care community on opposite sides of the issues, but noted that there was probably room for compromise on both sides.

Rep. Dollar’s comments were thoughtful, balanced, and extremely informed. His background as the Senior Chairman of the Appropriations Committee and Vice Chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee gives him a unique connection and knowledge of the issues facing NCMS members.

Next year, we look forward to another informative NCMS PAC event at the Annual Meeting. If you have feedback on last week’s event, or have ideas for future events, please get in touch with Will Barnett at (919) 833-3836 or [email protected].

 
 

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