President's Page

President's Page
June 2008

TexMed 2008:
The blood, sweat and tears of medical politics

By William J. Walton, MD
2008 DCMS President

I have just returned from San Antonio and Texas Medical Association’s annual meeting. I feel like I need to go to work at the office and see 20 patients to get some rest and relief. Our Dallas County Delegation spent three days slugging it out with the rest of the physicians in our great and diverse state—debating, cajoling, partying, and voting. There were some boring details, but also much substance and greatness.

TexMed is where our leaders are elected, our resolutions debated and brought to a vote, and many awards are presented.

The passion and great wisdom of our Texas physicians is obvious immediately. I particularly was proud of our Dallas delegation. In the past, we had been less active as a delegation. One indication of our increased involvement is the number of resolutions we offered. In past years, Dallas would author two or four or six resolutions. This year we had 17! And we brought into the political process some new and bright physicians who are passionate and undaunted by the enormity of the process.

I was most struck with the courage and passion of a young pediatrician, Turner Lewis, MD. Dr Lewis practices in Ellis County with a 70 percent Medicaid practice. He is a DCMS member and a brand-new alternate delegate. Dr Lewis is famous for his battle with the State of Texas, a story that was chronicled in Texas Medicine about 5 months ago. In brief, he was dinged by the Office of Inspector General for upcoding on Medicaid claims (untrue) and fined $450,000. After more than a year of battles, and despite independent reviews and court judgments that he had done nothing wrong, it took the attorney general and Senator Bob Deuell, MD, to rescue him from the bureaucratic pit bulls of the state that were vindictively intent on bankrupting him.

Dr Lewis wrote five resolutions, with the expert help of Lisa Swanson, our Delegation guru. Two of his resolutions asked the TMA to petition our legislators to change the state laws so the State (OIG and Texas Medical Board) is not allowed to brush aside the constitutional rights of physicians. He stood up in three reference committees, totally green to the process, fearless and stubborn. When a reference committee recommended that one of his resolutions not be adopted, he stood up in the House of Delegates, with almost 500 people present, and persuaded the House to accept his resolution for further study in the Socioeconomics Committee. All five of his resolutions passed! Dr Lewis is an inspiration to our profession and gives one great optimism for our future.

My passion is the plight of the uninsured. Last year we introduced a resolution calling for establishment of a Blue Ribbon Committee on the Uninsured. It passed. Our TMA Board of Trustees chose to refer the work to an existing committee, the TMA Select Committee on CHIP and Medicaid (adding “the Uninsured” to the name). This committee has some fine leaders on it, several from Dallas, but it has been overwhelmed with the nuts and bolts of the details of CHIP and Medicaid. I eventually was appointed to this committee. It became apparent to me that this task was too large for this committee to handle, so we reintroduced the same resolution this year in order to have a fresh start looking at the problems in the healthcare system and, in particular, the uninsured.

What a battle it was! The reintroduction of the resolution actively was opposed by the TMA Board of Trustees, past TMA presidents, members of the Select Committee, and others who feel the issue is just too big for Texas to address. I testified in two reference committees and before the Select Committee with the support of other members of our delegation. The reference committee recommended not adopting the resolution. I was ready to admit defeat until our own delegation challenged me to fight on the floor of the House. I was helped in our debate by the strong passionate pleas of our Drs Stan Pomarantz and Lee Ann Pearse, and by Tarrant County Medical Society President Melissa Garretson, MD. The resolution passed 50.2% to 49.8%! Fortunately, I was sitting beside Allan Anderson (cardiologist), who was ready to give me CPR!

Also at TexMed, the TMA Foundation awarded eight $5000 scholarships to minority students entering medical school. It was heartwarming to see these young, optimistic and eager citizens, all wanting to help society and slay the dragons of disease. DCMS Past President Carolyn Evans, MD, has spearheaded this ceremony for years. She and DCMS Past President Tim Norwood, MD, who, with his wife Cecilia, donated one of the scholarships, are an inspiration to us more “mature” physicians to give back to our profession.

Medical politics can be taxing and exhausting, but also greatly rewarding. Ultimately, the more of us who become engaged, the more we will be able to help our patients and our great profession.

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