This week, VACEP and our allies secured a major win when a federal judge in Texas ruled in our favor regarding the process for resolving reimbursement disputes between insurers and physicians. The decision puts emergency medicine one step closer to ensuring a fair arbitration process as part of the federal No Surprises Act.

At the halfway point of the Virginia General Assembly, five members of VACEP’s Board of Directors provided an update to fellow emergency physicians across Virginia on the status of key legislation that the group is supporting, opposing, or simply monitoring.

“I’m asking you to come at this with a sense of optimism that we’re going to be okay,” ACEP President Gillian Schmitz told members of the Virginia College of Emergency Physicians. “I know people are stressed right now, I know there's a high level of anxiety about multiple different factors impacting our practice, but it's going to be okay, and we’re making some significant headway.”

Emergency Physicians from across Virginia came to Richmond on Wednesday, January 26 to advocate for emergency medicine. After a briefing on issues from VACEP lobbyist Aimee Perron Seibert, a team of more than a dozen emergency physicians went to the Pocahontas Building, where members have their offices as the new General Assembly building is constructed. They met with legislators and aides, usually for about 5 or 10 minutes, and discussed key issues that impact EM.

As the Omicron variant spreads and COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations surge, Virginia’s emergency departments have been overwhelmed with patients seeking care. The Virginia College of Emergency Physicians is calling on Gov. Ralph Northam to once again declare a State of Emergency, a designation that can provide relief to emergency departments statewide, and for public health officials to open more testing sites.

It is disappointing to see that despite a huge surplus in the Medicaid program, Governor Ralph Northam’s introduced 2022-2024 biennial budget preserves a harmful policy that improperly penalizes emergency physicians and frontline healthcare professionals who have been providing care to all Virginians, including Medicaid patients.

Despite a similar policy being removed from the Virginia budget a few years ago due to being at odds with state and federal law, this policy was enacted at the urging of Medicaid managed care organizations and enacted during the COVID-19 budget uncertainty.

Here’s a quick election analysis, which helps set the stage for White Coats on Call 2022 and gives us an understanding of the new environment at the Virginia General Assembly.

Last month at ACEP21 in Boston, ACEP Councilors — essentially like a legislative branch of ACEP — met to discuss new Resolutions.

“Resolutions” pertain to issues affecting the practice of emergency medicine, advocacy and regulatory issues, and amendments to things like the College Bylaws or rules. Resolutions are considered formal motions that, if adopted, become official Council policy.