Together, We Can Make a Difference
When we speak with one voice, we make our profession stronger.
Thank you to all of you who banded together this week to make a concerted effort to call the Governor and encourage your colleagues, friends, and family to do the same. We must urge the Governor to veto the Wrongful Death bill before she acts on it in the coming weeks. The bill is still on the Governor’s desk, so we continue to encourage you to call Governor Hochul to urge her to veto the Wrongful Death bill. Call 518-474-8390 and press option 3. Then press option 1 to leave a voicemail or option 2 to speak with an operator.
Together, we can make a difference.
State of the State Address. This week, after listening to the Governor’s State of the State Address I released a statement to the press, which I’m sharing with all of you here:
“The Medical Society welcomes Governor Hochul’s ambitious agenda to address the gaps in New York’s health care safety net, including efforts to enhance our mental health care infrastructure across the state. We applaud the Governor’s stated plans to enhance the availability of primary care for our patients enrolled in various health insurance programs, including by increasing reimbursement amounts in Medicaid which remain among the lowest in the country even after last year’s State Budget investments. The Medical Society also praises her commitment to public health through proposals to discourage the use of cigarettes and flavored tobacco products, to help prevent a new generation of New Yorkers becoming addicted to nicotine products.
“We remain concerned, however, with the continuing push to address New York’s critical health care shortages through expanding the scope of practice of various less-trained health care providers, in lieu of advancing measures to retain and attract skilled physicians to help fill these shortages. Despite the State’s reputation as a world class health care treatment destination and its many important consumer protections, New York is regularly ranked at the bottom of states to deliver patient care. This is attributable in significant part to lack of competitive compensation and excessive litigation risk and costs. It is imperative that we reverse this trend through the enactment of policies which make New York a welcoming environment for skilled physicians.
“We look forward to working with the Governor and the State Legislature towards the enactment of policies that will help ensure New Yorkers can access the timely, quality care they need and deserve.”
