APMA News - March/April 2021 - 26

Federal Advocacy Forum
By William S. Long, DPM

Gratitude!
It is with a grateful heart that I assume the position of
APMA Legislative Committee chair. First and foremost, I
want to thank my predecessor, Patrick DeHeer, DPM, for allowing me the opportunity to serve as Legislative Committee
co-chair for the past year. I cannot express in words my appreciation for the professionalism and patience shown to me
as I take the reins. I am hopeful that I will be able to continue
our profession down the path of success and add to the list of
legislative victories for the advancement of our profession.
Further, I look forward to working with APMA legislative
staff members, who work diligently to protect and advance
our profession.
I have heard from time to time, " What has APMA done for
me? " and " Why should I pay for membership? " My answer to
those questions is simple: APMA works to ensure that we are
not left out of, and that we are protected in, legislation and
regulations affecting physicians.
The VA MISSION Act, passed in 2018, is an important recent example of APMA's legislative advocacy efforts-one that
benefited podiatrists working for Veterans Affairs hospitals.
These podiatrists now receive physician pay and benefits and
have access to the same leadership and career advancement
opportunities as our allopathic and osteopathic counterparts.
COVID-19 and the financial strain of the pandemic have
impacted all podiatrists in some way. APMA's Legislative
Committee successfully lobbied for inclusion of podiatrists as
essential health-care providers and had the foresight to proactively ensure podiatrists were not excluded from COVID-19
relief options such as the Paycheck Protection Program,
Economic Injury Disaster Loans, and other Health and
Human Services grants. Invaluable information about these
programs, including links to external websites and instructions, is available on APMA.org.
We do not know what the future holds for podiatric medicine as the landscape is constantly evolving. The Legislative
Committee will work with the 117th Congress to pass the
Helping Ensure Life- and Limb-Saving Access to Podiatric
Physicians (HELLPP) Act, APMA's bill to address the exclusion of DPMs as physician service providers under Medicaid.
We have already reached out to our primary sponsors to ensure an early introduction of the HELLPP Act in the US House
and Senate.
Rest assured APMA is standing steadfast to advance the podiatric profession and protect our members. We all have a
responsibility to protect our noble profession. Let's stay vigilant at the state and national levels.
26 APMA News March/April 2021

It is imperative to maintain your membership in your state
component and APMA. I feel obligated to leave my profession
in a better position than when I entered. I will continue to
support my state and national podiatric medical associations
by keeping my membership active.
It is of equal importance to support your state PAC and
APMAPAC. I humbly request that all members reading this
article continue to support APMAPAC with either your time
or donations, or both (visit www.apma.org/donate). We must
remain aggressive in advancing our profession. Unfortunately,
this effort requires some gut-wrenching sacrifices. Let's look
forward to a successful 2021.
Lastly, I am excited to announce that the APMA Legislative
Conference will be held virtually this year on May 12. We had
to cancel last year's event because of the public health emergency, so we are looking forward to hosting the event virtually this
year. APMA requests your assistance in conducting virtual
meetings with members of Congress. I hope you will consider
participating in this exciting event to advocate for the profession that has treated us so well. See more on page 19.
I look forward to the day we can all meet again in person. n

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APMA News - March/April 2021

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