The Orthopaedic Political Action Committee (OrthoPAC) supports candidates for federal office who champion orthopaedic issues and help advance the legislative agenda of AAOS.

OrthoPAC is rebuilding its war chest to be well positioned for the 2020 election and is thrilled by not only individual members’ participation in the PAC but also the success of corporate-level fundraising through the Advisor’s Circle. (See below for more information on individual/personal and corporate donations.)

The Advisor’s Circle provides the opportunity for leadership to AAOS members’ group practices and specialty societies, and it also allows OrthoPAC to work with those entities to maximize political opportunities on issues of importance to the orthopaedic community.

This year, OrthoPAC has:

• attended more than 250 political events and hosted more than 40 events
• reached a record-breaking $1 million through generous individual/personal and corporate donations
• secured six additional Advisor’s Circle members, bringing the total to 23 group practices and specialty societies

OrthoPAC thanks all members for their continued support and is excited to continue the progress as the number one healthcare PAC in the nation.

How much can an individual AAOS member contribute, and what is the difference between corporate and personal contributions?
An individual can contribute as much as $5,000 to any Political Action Committee (PAC) per year. Corporate contributions (or soft dollars) include checks and credit card charges processed on a physician’s business account (e.g., LLC, PC, Inc.). Personal contributions (or hard dollars) are checks and credit card charges from a physician’s personal account. Under Federal Election Commission law, personal contributions can be used for political candidates, whereas corporate contributions cannot. Therefore, corporate contributions are used to pay for things like the PAC’s operational expenses, participation in independent expenditures, and state party committee donations. Therefore, all contributions are greatly appreciated, but personal contributions are preferred.
Membership in the Orthopaedic PAC begins with a monetary donation of any amount.

For more information on all OrthoPAC efforts, visit www.aaos.org/pac.