'Office Visit' Demonstrates Value of Fostering Political Relationships

Medicaid statistics -- often little more than mind-numbing numbers in policy debates on Capitol Hill -- transformed into real people for U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris, R-Wash., June 1. That’s the day FP Anne Montgomery, M.D., of Spokane, Wash., introduced McMorris to some of the faces of Medicaid.

The introduction came during a tour of the Women's Health Center at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, a visit arranged after Montgomery met McMorris during the April Family Medicine Congressional Conference in the nation's capital.

The tour of the center demonstrates the value of meeting with U.S. representatives and senators; establishing ongoing communication with them; and showing the impact of laws on constituents, be they physicians or patients, said Kevin Burke, director of the AAFP Division of Government Relations.

Montgomery had attended the April conference with her husband, Glen Stream, M.D., a member of AAFP’s Commission on Legislation and Governmental Affairs. They met with McMorris for a quick introduction and with McMorris' legislative aide, Jaime Herrera, for 45 minutes during the Capitol Hill visits that were part of the conference.

Shortly after, they received a call from McMorris' office: Could Montgomery arrange a tour of her clinic when McMorris returned to the district?

During the tour of the Women’s Health Center, Montgomery described her patients’ needs to McMorris and Herrera. As she showed them the center’s maternity clinic, lactation and new mother support program areas, and the breast cancer program area, she explained that more than 90 percent of her patients relied on Medicaid.

“We were able to show why Medicaid money needs to keep flowing in productive ways,” said Montgomery of the visit. “Access is a big problem for Medicaid patients. And we have many uninsured working folks who can’t pay their medical bills.”

In addition, McMorris met with Sacred Heart Medical Center officials and subspecialists. They shared their on-the-ground experience with inadequate payment, high medical liability insurance premiums and physician recruitment barriers.

The conversations “included the geographic challenges we have in McMorris' district of lower Medicare reimbursement than Seattle and higher malpractice costs than Idaho, which is 30 miles from Spokane,” said Montgomery. “They talked about the difficulty recruiting and retaining both physicians and people like surgical assistants because they can all get more money elsewhere.”

Noting that McMorris and Herrera “took lots of notes,” Montgomery said her representative “seemed very interested in learning about the issues. She wanted to hear how such things as Medicare funding, Medicaid and other health issues affect doctors and patients in her district.”

“One of the major benefits of the annual Family Medicine Congressional Conference is the opportunity to initiate relationships like this one,” said Burke. “We are trying to help legislators see the family physicians in their districts as ongoing resources for information about health care policies. Visits to FPs' offices help legislators understand in personal terms the effects of what they are doing in the abstract on Capitol Hill.”