Resident Assembly and OrthoPAC Create a Culture of Giving Among Residents

Kevin Cronin, MD, Jacob G. Calcei, MD

The AAOS Orthopaedic Political Action Committee (OrthoPAC) had a record-breaking year in 2018, securing $4 million in donations—a 15 percent increase from the previous election cycle. This historic mark resulted in a 90 percent win rate in the House of Representatives and an 86 percent win rate in the Senate for supported candidates. Not to be overlooked are the significant contributions from orthopaedic residents. Like OrthoPAC as a whole, residents contributed in record numbers in 2018.

Advocacy in Action

How the AAOS Office of Government Relations (OGR) is working for you … Urged members of Congress to support the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019. The bipartisan legislation would provide a responsible increase in Medicare support for graduate medical education to address the impending shortage in the national physician workforce.

PAC Corner

The Orthopaedic Political Action Committee (OrthoPAC) supports candidates for federal office who champion orthopaedic issues and help advance the legislative agenda of AAOS. OrthoPAC had a fantastic first quarter and raised nearly $800,000. The AAOS 2019 Annual Meeting was also a tremendous success, and we thank everyone who took part in the many PAC-related activities in Las Vegas.

Second Look – Advocacy

The White House unveiled its tentative budget for fiscal year 2020, which included proposed reductions to funding for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Medicaid. Overall, the budget calls for a $2.7 trillion federal budget cut. Under the proposal, HHS would receive $87.1 billion in funding, and Medicaid would be slashed by about $1.5 trillion from 2020 through 2029. Legislation on hospital consolidation and transparency A new healthcare proposal from Rep.