Some 75 physicians and 25 legislators attended the 2017 Georgia ‘Physicians’ Day at the Capitol,’ which took place on Wednesday. 

“This was a great opportunity for physicians in every specialty and practice setting to deliver some critical messages to state lawmakers in a very unified and powerful way,” says Medical Association of Georgia (MAG) President Steven M. Walsh, M.D.

MAG Government Relations Director Derek Norton echoes those sentiments, stating that, “This year’s event was a big success. We had a large contingent of physicians who were able to discuss important issues with their state lawmakers in a very personal and powerful way.”

Dr. Walsh explains that, “Among the key issues we discussed with legislators were narrowing health insurance networks, the ‘surprise coverage gap’ that health insurers subject our patients to in ER settings, the need to support Medicaid physicians – especially those in the primary care and OB-GYN specialties – and ways to enhance the state’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program so it becomes an even more valuable tool physicians and other health care providers can use, and will embrace, to help fight the state’s prescription drug epidemic.”

Norton also emphasized that the number of physicians who attended this year’s event was up considerably from recent years, stating that, “It is a great sign in terms of momentum and what I hope and believe we will see in 2018 and beyond.”

In addition to MAG, the event was sponsored by Resurgens Orthopaedics, the Georgia Society of Ophthalmology, the Georgia Society of the American College of Surgeons, the Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association, the Georgia Society of Anesthesiologists, the Georgia Orthopedic Society, the Georgia Chapter of the American College of Cardiology, and the Georgia Society of Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery.