One by one, state legislatures across the country are introducing bills to create an "Interstate Medical Licensure Compact."
If enacted, a vast majority of physicians seeking a license through the compact WOULD BE REQUIRED to participate in MOC. In fact, the compact defines “physician” as one who holds specialty certification recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties or the American Osteopathic Association's Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists. NO STATE currently defines a physician in this manner.
The compact would be a giant leap towards entrenching MOC as mandatory for ALL physicians and puts in place a new bureaucracy that will most certainly only continue to increase its power over the ability of physicians to practice and the rights of patients to see the physician of their choice.
These bills must be STOPPED whenever and wherever they are found!
So far we are aware of 16 states that have introduced this legislation; it takes seven states voting in favor of the compact for it to form.
The sixteen states are as follows: Texas (SB 190 & HB 661), Utah (HB 121), Wyoming (HB 107), South Dakota (SB 63), Oklahoma (HB 1716), Iowa (SSB 1019 & HSB 20), Nebraska (LB 258), Vermont (S.8), Minnesota (SF 253), Montana (LC0365), West Virginia (SB 330 & HB 2496), Maryland, Idaho, Illinois, Rhode Island, and Nevada.
A list of the states with corresponding bill numbers can also be found at: http://www.fsmb.org/policy/interstate-model-compact/
If you are in one of the above states, call your state legislators TODAY and tell them to oppose the bill. Copied below is an alert sent to our South Dakota members with talking points about why the interstate compact must not proceed.
If your state is not yet listed above, call your legislators and ask them to introduce a resolution opposing the FSMB compact. CLICK here for a template resolution approved by the American Legislative Exchange Council this past December. Arizona already has a resolution introduced in the AZ Senate thanks to Senator Kelli Ward, DO.
Are you involved in your state medical society? We have TWO resolutions for you to introduce. The first one calls for opposition to this Interstate Compact. The second asks your state medical board to withdraw from the FSMB (the author of the compact). Here is a link to a short video explaining these resolutions: http://youtu.be/2cvex_92itA
For more information, please read the below alert we are sending to our members in West Virginia about the proposed legislation in their state.
Take action today!
ACTION ALERT:
Help STOP WV Participation in Interstate Medical Licensure Compact
Dear West Virginia AAPS members and friends,
Earlier this week SB 330 was introduced which seeks to hand control of aspects of the practice of medicine in West Virginia over to un-elected bureaucrats in Texas! You read that right: the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), based near Dallas, is pushing state legislatures across the country to adopt their “Interstate Medical Licensing Compact.”
If SB 330 is enacted by the West Virginia legislature it will be a victory for the special interests seeking to tie MOC to licensure for ALL physicians.
We have heard from many of you who have already spoken out. Thank you! Keep the pressure on to stop this bill!
Proponents of the Compact are responding by claiming that because participation in the compact by physicians is "voluntary" there is no cause for concern. The truth is the fact that licensure via the compact is not (yet) mandatory is irrelevant! The board certification requirements in the Compact are an unprecedented encroachment of MOC into the licensure process.
For over a decade the FSMB has been driving to incorporate the ABMS Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program into the renewal process for a basic medical license. Physician opposition has so far thwarted these FSMB efforts BUT if the Interstate Medical Licensing Compact is enacted the FSMB will have won a strategic foothold towards their goal.
Please call your West Virginia state senator TODAY and tell your senator to oppose S.B. 330. You can find the contact info for your senator here:
http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Senate1/roster.cfm
Legislators who have been educated about the real implications of passing this Compact strongly oppose it. In fact, the influential coalition of state legislators, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)—just this past December—passed a resolution firmly opposing the FSMB compact.
We've already mentioned perhaps the most shocking part of the proposed Compact: It would require physicians seeking a license via the Compact to participate in Maintenance of Certification (MOC). In fact, the compact defines “physician” as one who holds specialty certification recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties or the American Osteopathic Association's Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists. NO STATE currently defines a physician in this manner.
The adoption of such a definition of “physician” in the Compact could open the floodgates to regulations requiring MOC for ALL physicians in order to keep their medical license; it appears to be yet another shameless attempt to force this counterproductive money-making scheme on physicians. Mandatory MOC would harm patient access to medical care from independent physicians of their choosing.
Legislators should not be giving special advantages to out-of-state specialty groups that sell MOC, which is what these bills wrongly do. Physicians who spend more time helping patients will be at a disadvantage under this law unless they spend time and money taking pointless exams offered by out-of-state MOC groups.
Here is a list of additional important reasons why it must be opposed:
- The Compact would abdicate essential state sovereignty over medical issues, by transferring powers to out-of-state private organizations and to other States. West Virginia should not give up its authority and responsibility to entities that are unaccountable to West Virginia voters.
- There will be significant financial costs to states joining such an Interstate Medical Licensure Compact;
- It would be difficult and expensive for West Virginia to extricate itself from the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact;
- The cost of obtaining medical licenses will increase, and West Virginia must protect its citizens from regulatory excesses;
- The Interstate Compact improperly delegates authority to private, out-of-state specialty organizations that have no transparency or accountability to West Virginia voters, by requiring the much-criticized "Maintenance of Certification (MOC)."
- Requirements mandated to comply with MOC are widely considered to be an immense waste of time and money, with no proven connection to the quality of patient care.
- This Interstate Compact is being pushed by a private organization in West Virginia (the FSMB) that has historically been an opponent of private medicine, and its proposal has not been properly vetted or discussed with physicians in private practice or genuine patient groups.
- The issue of telemedicine is best handled by West Virginia for West Virginia residents. West Virginia legislature should not be delegating that responsibility to private, out-of-state organizations and to other State licensing bodies.
Please contact your representatives today and stay-tuned. We are tracking this important issue and will update you as more details become available.
Additional Resources:
Short video explaining need to oppose Compact
Resolution to introduce in your medical society in opposition to Compact
Missouri’s medical board opposes compact: http://aapsonline.org/MissouriBOHACompact.pdf.
