CALL TO ACTION!!
TWO ISSUES = TWO ASKS
ISSUE 1/ASK 1

URGENT CALL TO ACTION - HOUSE
FROM: MSD Primary Care Subcommittee
After clearing the Senate, SS 1 for SB 120 (Primary Care Reform) will be heard in the House Health & Human Development Committee. Hopefully, it will be voted on shortly thereafter by the entire House. 

In anticipation of this, your continued help is needed to save Primary Care, and we ask you to contact your State Representative now. Yes, we previously requested for you to call your State Representatives on this bill last month, however, we need to keep the pressure up and have a limited time to do so.

If you have already called your State Representative, thank you! BUT, please call them AGAIN on this bill. 

Our ASK:

  • Call YOUR State Representative ASAP asking for their support of SS 1 for SB 120. If you do not know who your Representative is or do not have your Representative's contact information, you can find it here: www.legis.delaware.gov (under "Who is My Legislator?")

Talking Points:

  • The Primary Care Reform Collaborative has been working for three years to discuss how to make sure Delaware’s Primary Care system is preserved. All the data supports the fact that Primary Care is underfunded in Delaware. Further, all parties on the Collaborative agree that Primary Care needs to be saved. However, no consensus was reached at the Collaborative.

  • Patients are losing access to care because too many Primary Care Physicians are retiring early, leaving the state, or changing to concierge medicine. Further, almost no new Primary Care Physicians are choosing to practice in Delaware.

  • Legislation is needed now. That legislation is Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 120 and we ask for your support of the bill.

  • Testimony was provided by MSD to the Senate Finance Committee this past May in support of Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 120.



ISSUE 2/ASK 2

URGENT CALL TO ACTION - SENATE
FROM: MSD Government Affairs Committee
Our ASK:

Call YOUR State SENATOR ASAP asking them to vote against both HB 21 and HB 141.

If you do not know who your Senator is or do not have your Senator's contact information, you can find it here: www.legis.delaware.gov (under "Who is My Legislator?")

Talking Points:

  • The Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) Interstate Compact bills (House Bill 21 and House Bill 141) were passed by the House last month and will be before the Senate Sunset Committee next week.

  • The first bill, HB 21, is the actual Interstate Compact. HB 141 is a companion bill that changes existing Delaware law to comport with the compact.

  • Several years ago, the Medical Society of Delaware (MSD) worked in conjunction with the APRNs and others to craft the existing law that both these bills would change.

  • MSD regards APRNs and other professionals as vital to a complete and well-functioning health care system and is proud to work hand in hand for the best patient outcomes.

  • To be clear, MSD believes in licensure portability, but only when it does not conflict with existing requirements - whether that be scope of practice or training requirements.

  • MSD opposes these bills because it would cut the training requirements for independent APRN practice virtually in half. Patient safety is the foremost concern of our profession and we believe these bills go too far in limiting the amount of training Delaware currently requires.

  • The Delaware Society of Anesthesiologists submitted a letter to members of the House in opposition to HB 141 and HB 21. Read the letter for a more in-depth discussion.

  • Testimony was provided by MSD to the House Sunset Committee in January in opposition to House Bill 21 and House Bill 141.