Supreme Court Races Gearing Up for 2004
The races for
next year’s four Ohio Supreme Court seats are beginning to take shape. Late
last month, the Ohio Republican Party announced its endorsed slate of Thomas
Moyer for Chief Justice and Judith Lanzinger, Terrence O’Donnell and Paul
Pfeifer for Associate Justices. Moyer
and Pfeifer are seeking re-election, O’Donnell was appointed to complete the
term of former Justice Deborah Cook and Lanzinger is the newcomer of the four,
who will run in the open seat. The open seat resulted from Justice Francis
Sweeney being constitutionally barred from running for re-election due to his
age.
Many in the
medical and business community would have preferred that a primary challenger
come forward to take on Paul Pfeifer, but Ohio Republican Party Chair Robert
Bennett effectively dissuaded such a move. Though Pfeifer did get the party
endorsement, it was far from unanimous. While the other three endorsements were
mere formalities, Pfeifer was endorsed by a 34-11 vote and then only after
lengthy discussion. Pfeifer has never been on the side of medicine or business
in tort reform decisions. Pfeifer has angered some Republicans by his votes in a
majority that threw out changes in workers’ compensation law and found
unconstitutional Ohio’s school-funding system and a law limiting damages
awarded in lawsuits.
The Funding limits for the Ohio Supreme Court have also been revised for next years campaign. Funding Limits for the Chief Justice and Justices, Effective 2004 Races, are:
§ From an Individual $2,500
§ From an Organization $5,500
§ From a Political Party
- Primary Election $125,000
- General Election $250,000
The AMC/NOMA’s Political Action Committee (NOMPAC) will once again be very active in supporting and advocating candidates who are likely to be more in line with physician’s interests. Ohio trial attorneys will also be promoting their candidates. The physician community has to work hard to triumph in the 2004 races.
Keeping the Voice of
Medicine Strong
John Atkinson once said, “If you
don’t run your own life, somebody else will.”
This could not be truer of the medical profession today.
The medical profession and medical practice continues to be maligned by
the media, certain attorneys, government officials and others.
Society has to be reminded that corporations do not provide health care
and insurance companies do not provide health care; and medical malpractice
attorneys do not provide health care – physicians provide health care.
Without physicians, there would be no one to make the life and death
decisions – society needs to be reminded that the health care system is based
on the knowledge base provided by physicians and other allied medical
professionals. There is only one
organization in the community that speaks for the broad constituency of
physicians - The Academy of Medicine of Cleveland/Northern Ohio Medical
Association (AMC/NOMA.)
The question is often asked,
“What does the AMC/NOMA do for me?” It
is difficult to specify dollars vs. benefits attained through societies such as
the AMC/NOMA. Many benefits are
intangible. They are derived from
our organization interacting with community organization, the media, insurers,
regulatory agencies and legislators. The
AMC/NOMA is truly the physician advocacy organization in Northeastern Ohio –
we work everyday utilizing our resources and staff on behalf of the physicians
in Northern Ohio.
The effectiveness of the AMC/NOMA, like that of any professional society, is directly related to the number of members who actively participate in its programs and activities. When your peers choose not to belong to organized medicine and simply “ride the coattails” of those that do belong, it dilutes the voice of physicians on important issues and undermines the effectiveness of the organization.
The success of the AMC/NOMA efforts
and activities is entirely dependent upon strong commitment and involvement in
organized medicine. Our goals
cannot be achieved if a few physicians only provide support.
Our goals cannot be achieved if physicians/medical staffs choose to
utilize their funds and energy to support other organizations instead of the AMC/NOMA.
Others speak out (supposedly on our behalf) and would have physicians
believe that the AMC/NOMA is unable to represent physicians aggressively.
Nothing is further from the truth – the AMC/NOMA spearheaded an
aggressive media campaign – including billboards, seminars, rallies,
radio/television and newspaper advertisements to achieve tort reform.
This year we are continuing our campaign by providing tangible and
verifiable survey information on the medical liability crisis to the Ohio
Department of Insurance, Common Good and the media.
We are continuing to keep the public informed of the crisis through the
media, our web site and meetings with both federal and state legislators. A seminar hosted by the AMC/NOMA with key legislators is in
the planning stages for 2004.
We have proposed initiatives to
further the positive steps taken by tort reform and to combat the damaging
effects on physicians and their patients by the destabilization of the
professional liability insurance market. These initiatives include Mandatory
Arbitration, Establishment of a Medical Review Panel, Creation of a Sliding
Scale for Attorney Contingency Fees, Lowering Required Hospital Liability Limits
and the Development of a Patient Compensation Fund (PCF).
The AMC/NOMA is the only regional physician organization capable of representing physicians on these issues. Our physician advocacy and legislative efforts are aggressive and we will continue to work to achieve solutions to the problems and issues facing physicians and their patients in Northeastern Ohio. The AMC/NOMA has several solutions to the issues confronting physicians’ and hospitals in Northeastern Ohio. We believe that these solutions can be accomplished through a continued, sustained aggressive stance by organized medicine in the region.
Membership in organized medicine should not be considered a luxury; rather, it should be an indication of the commitment by physicians to the profession. The principal strength of the AMC/NOMA lies in unity, commitment and leadership.
This issue of the Cleveland Physician is unique in that it has been printed and sent out to members as well as non-members in the community. The reason for this is simple – we need the participation of every physician in Northern Ohio in the AMC/NOMA. We need all physicians in the community to work through the AMC/NOMA and support our efforts. The AMC/NOMA has supported physicians’ causes for over 180 years – a record equaled by none. Trial lawyers continue to speak out against the Ohio tort reform legislation – they speak with one voice – not through myriad different organizations. 2004 is a critical year – there will be efforts to change the makeup of the Ohio Supreme Court. If this is achieved, the trial lawyers will almost certainly test the constitutionality of the cap on noneconomic damages. If you are already a member, get involved! 2004 is an election year and there are four seats open on the Ohio Supreme Court.
AMC/NOMA’s NOMPAC, political action committee, needs your support for this race. Physicians need to funnel their energy into a single organization that can achieve their goals. AMC/NOMA will celebrate its 180th anniversary in 2004.
If you are not a member –
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT AND YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN THE AMC/NOMA.
We have several options available that you can use to sign up for membership:
Send an email to lhale@amcnoma.org asking to become a member of the AMC/NOMA today.
AMC/NOMA Presents to Med Staffs on Benefits of Membership
Members of AMC/NOMA’s Membership, Retention & Recruitment Committee presented information to area medical staffs regarding the Academy’s 180 years of physician advocacy.
§ Providing testimony and encourage letter writing to state and federal legislators to pursue passage of medical liability legislation
§ Meeting with the Ohio Department of Insurance
§ Using AMC/NOMA’s Northern Ohio Medical Political Action Committee (NOMPAC) funds to support 2004 Supreme Court candidates
§ Surveying area physicians on managed care, access and overhead costs
§ Using recent medical liability survey data toward promoting legislative causes
§ Promoting public awareness of the medical malpractice liability crisis
§ Working with physicians and their patients to ensure that medical liability reforms remain enforced in Ohio
Dr.
Bastulli Appears on WERE 1300-AM Radio Talk Show
Dr. John A. Bastulli, AMC/NOMA Legislative Committee Chairman and past President, appeared on the “Healthcare Cost Crisis Show” with Alan Thompson on WERE 1300-AM on Tuesday, September 30th, from 8:00-9:00 a.m.
Dr. Bastulli indicated that there are many physicians that are either leaving the state, retiring from practice or discontinuing services due to the Med-Mal crisis. “Physicians are finding it much more difficult to continue to practice in certain specialties in our state, so they are going to states that have some meaningful tort reform in place, like Indiana and Wisconsin.”
Mr. Thompson asked about caps on attorney contingency fees and how it would affect the problem. “What the AMC/NOMA had strongly supported in SB 281 was a cap on attorney contingency fees,” said Dr. Bastulli. “The bill that we had in Ohio that passed in the Senate included caps on attorney contingency fees, but it also included a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages – this was not a cap on economic damages but on the damages one could receive for pain and suffering. The House gutted the bill and removed many of these provisions.” Dr. Bastulli provided information and statistics on this as well.
Due to the positive feedback from the show, Dr. Bastulli was asked to make a follow-up appearance on Tuesday, October 28.
For more information, visit the show’s website at http://www.healthcarecostcrisis.info/
AMC/NOMA’s 40-year-old, award-winning radio program, Healthlines,
serves as a platform to inform the public and the media about issues confronting
physicians and medicine, as well as current health care findings.
Healthlines is
broadcast on WCLV, 104.9 FM., every other Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The
program serves as an important community outreach service to the Northeast Ohio
community, where physician members can discuss important and up-to-date
information on medical topics.
AMC/NOMA leadership
routinely uses the Healthlines forum as a way to educate the public regarding
the issues that directly affect physicians, such as pending legislation, survey
results and the Med-Mal Crisis.