Dear WSRS members,
The membership has repeatedly stated that the most important activity of the Washington State Radiological Society should be to provide political representation. Effective representation requires contact with reps and their aides. When possible we attend political fundraisers with financial donations. The latter are important for the Society to be taken seriously. Our state WSRS Political Action Committee (PAC) requires more funds for the current election cycle. Please consider donating to the WSRS PAC as an individual or as a practice.
WSRS executive committee members attended both Republican and Democratic State House and Senate fundraisers over the last two weeks. Jon Medverd (Past President and Chair of WSRS PAC), Jim Hedrick (lobbyist for WSRS) and I attended the WA Democratic Caucus and WA Senate Democrats fundraiser in Seattle on 7/24/18. Several Democrat House and Senate reps were present, and we were able to speak with them personally. Our conversations included matters of direct interest to radiologists such as balance billing legislation. We also discussed wider issues including state plans to improve public health. These broader discussions indicate our interest in the health of the community we all live in. As your representatives, we made ourselves available to discuss healthcare issues in general and to provide real-world perspective on current or future healthcare legislation.
Jon attended the Republican fundraiser the week before and had similar personal conversations with a half dozen legislators, including the Minority Leaders of the State House and Senate.
At each of the above events, we were able to personally deliver modest contribution checks to the host political party from the WSRS PAC. Campaign season fundraisers are an opportunity to increase the visibility of radiologists as a physician group. Effective lobbying requires financial donations. At this time the funds we have available are extremely low.
Please consider donating to the WSRS PAC. If you prefer, you can also contact our Executive Director, Emily Jones, and she’ll be happy to take a credit card donation over the phone: 206-956-3621. Or you may mail a check to:
WSRS PAC
Attn: Emily Jones
2001 6th Ave., Suite 2700
Seattle, WA 98121
Sincerely,
Ruben Krishnananthan, MD
President, Washington State Radiological Society
What is WSRS PAC?
The WSRS-PAC is a nonpartisan political action committee established by the WSRS and supported by radiologists and practics that choose to make voluntary contributions. WSRS-PAC works to support and elect pro-medicine candidates to the state legislature from every district around the state.
Note that the ACR’s RADPAC supports medicine-friendly candidates across the country who are seeking election to the U.S. Congress. WSRS encourages its members to support RADPAC, in addition to the WSRS PAC
Why contribute to the WSRS PAC?
Health insurance reform…provider taxes…non-physician health care providers…scope of practice…the issues are endless.
All of these issues impact a Radiologists ability to practice medicine. Legislators in Washington are making decisions that can make your practice easier or harder. In order to make the most of our advocacy in Olympia, we need to be active in putting the right people in the capitol.
Reasons for supporting WSRS PAC
Without medicine-friendly candidates in the state legislature, legislation that effectively addresses the concerns of physicians will not be passed.
Contact the PAC board via email.