MAJOR PHYSICIAN ORGANIZATIONS JOIN FORCES

MAJOR PHYSICIAN ORGANIZATIONS JOIN FORCES

 Doctors for America (DFA) and The National Physicians Alliance (NPA) are excited to announce that they have joined forces to advocate for a more just health care system that achieves health equity and universal, affordable health care for all.

By merging these two progressive physician organizations, Doctors for America will now have the power and voices of 30,000 doctors and medical students who will fight together for the most critical issues that affect our patients and the public health of our nation. As physicians on the front lines of medicine, we see firsthand the struggles encountered by our patients in the health care system we currently have.  We are uniquely poised to share our experiences and the experiences of our patients to inform public policy.

For too long, the voice of physicians and medical students have been pushed aside in public policy debates.  We have been told that “This is NOT our Lane.”  We strongly disagree –  This is OUR lane and our voices and activism will be heard.  DFA and NPA now stand as one representing a new force in public discourse and policy.

Stronger together, the new organization created by this merger will amplify our mission to mobilize doctors and medical students to be leaders in putting patients over politics on the pressing issues of the day, in order to improve the health of our patients, communities, and our nation.

We practice and study in the largest cities and the smallest towns of America from New York City to Salt Lake City.  We work in private practices, academic centers, community health centers, and government-run systems like the Veteran’s Affairs and the Indian Health Service.  We work in primary care, surgery, and many subspecialties. Some of us are just embarking on our medical careers and some of us are retired – most of us are somewhere in between.  Some of us are deans of medical schools or nationally renowned health policy experts. Nearly all of us take care of patients. Many of us have never ventured into politics before but driven by pragmatic idealism, we are bringing the voice of physicians to communities across the country and to the national stage. Our common vision and shared ideals will ensure that we help to create the kind of health care system every person deserves.

Our engagement and actions will be expanded in the following areas:

Universal Health Care: 

Patients OVER Politics has been the historic mission of our organizations.  We believe in affordable, accessible, and quality healthcare for ALL.  All means ALL.  American health care costs too much covers too little and creates frustration for too many.  The issue isn’t more money for healthcare but more healthcare for the money. As the results of the 2018 election made crystal clear, the country and our patients want action. We will not be sitting on the sidelines.  In addition, to reforms that maintain, protect and strengthen the progress we have made with the passage of the Affordable Care Act, we will be actively engaged in the debate on how best to achieve universal healthcare for ALL.

Gun Violence Prevention:

Our physicians are on the front lines of this preventable public health crisis.  Gun violence victims are cared for by physicians and the long term effects of gun violence on victims and their communities is a chronic health problem. Gun violence prevention is clearly our lane.  We will tirelessly advocate for policy changes until gun violence is a thing of the past. For more than 20 years Congress has voted to deny funding and effectively ban the Center for Disease Control from doing critical scientific research to understand and prevent gun violence. Doctors for America has lead this effort and joined with the medical, public health, and science communities to say: enough is enough, #EndTheBan!  We support universal background checks contained in HR 8 which is on the verge of passing the House of Representatives.  We support screening for safe storage of guns — particularly in homes with children. We support evidence-based policies limiting gun possession by high-risk individuals. We support increased attention and support for secondary victims of gun violence.

Drug Value, Pricing, and Affordability:

All too often we watch as our patients are forced to choose not to take the pharmaceuticals we have prescribed them because they can not afford them.  We will no longer sit quietly by as the cost of insulin doubles in a four year time period or the newest innovations in the treatment of life-threatening chronic diseases remain out of reach because of cost.

The U.S. has long had a problem with the rising costs of drugs and the unaffordability of prescriptions to our patients and the healthcare system as a whole. We plan to lead the push for solutions that foster continued pharmaceutical innovation yet also deliver medicines that are both affordable and effective.  We must ensure that the experiences of physicians are at the table so that we can advocate on behalf of our patients and their needs.

QUOTES

“Now more than ever, the voice of physicians is needed in public debate on issues affecting the welfare, health, and safety of our patients.  We are excited about this opportunity with the National Physicians Alliance (NPA) that will result in a physicians’ movement of over 30,000 strong.  As Doctors for America enters our 10th Anniversary, locking arms with NPA at this time couldn’t be more strategic and beneficial for our patients and for the public health of our nation,” stated Scott Poppen, Doctors for America, Board Chair

“For the past 10 years, NPA and DFA have been leading voices in the physician community on so many issues that affect our patients. Combining our forces in these perilous times provides us with expanded and renewed opportunities to correct the injustices that our patients have been facing,” stressed Jeff Huebner, National Physicians Alliance, Board Chair

Doctors for America is 501(c)3 nonprofit that envisions a healthy America for everyone.  We are committed to evidence-based medicine, transparency, putting our patients first, and do not accept funding from pharmaceutical or medical device manufacturers.