Everyone knows that what one does at a political convention is to wear a ridiculous hat and, in general, act like an idiot. Or at least that's what I thought, until I attended the Democratic convention in Los Angeles this August. To my surprise and amazement, the activities surrounding the convention were extremely informative and potentially very useful for our Association. I hasten to add at this point, in case anyone might wonder, that I paid for all of the expenses of this trip personally because I could not be sure that it would be of value to the American.
I came away convinced that the American can greatly enhance its political clout by regularly participating in these conventions. Our unofficial delegation, in addition to myself, consisted of Deborah Peel and Jon Meyer. Here's what we learned. The real purpose of a convention, beyond the floor displays scripted for TV, is to provide an opportunity for members of Congress and various constituencies to meet and consider possible alliances. Away from the penetrating gaze of the cameras, hundreds of meetings take place in hotels and restaurants all over the city. What happens in those meetings will go a long way toward determining party policy for the next four years, as well as the shape of the election to come. For the first time, the American was a part of this process.
In Washington, it is very difficult to gain an audience directly with a senator or representative. Ordinarily, one must be satisfied speaking with congressional aides. At the convention, however, members of Congress, especially those headed into fall elections, are readily accessible and eager to speak with possible supporters. When Congressmen found that we were from a national organization composed not only of voters, but also of highly influential community leaders, doors opened like magic.
Here are a very few examples of the many contacts we made. We talked for quite some time with Rep. Robert E. Andrews (D-N.J.). He is the senior Democratic member of a subcommittee empowered to investigate and make recommendations about the ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974) laws, which prevent patients from suing HMOs. Repeal or revision of ERISA would go a long way toward driving a stake through the heart of managed care and restoring accountability to our health care system. We also described our concerns about the privacy of psychotherapy and psychoanalytic records, and we explained the need to incorporate the principles of the Supreme Court decision in Jaffee v. Redmond into federal legislative law. Andrews said that he would be interested in working with us to develop such a bill.
Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) is a strong advocate of mental health issues. He has been courageously open about his own treatment for depression, both with psychotherapy and medication, and the benefit he has derived from it. We will be working extensively with his office, and he expressed considerable interest in speaking at one of our meetings. Minority House Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) was also of great help to us and continues to be a true privacy advocate. We were able to watch the convention from his skybox and that of Representative Kennedy.
We were approached spontaneously by a number of congressional hopefuls looking to unseat incumbent Republicans. Many of these were key races in the Democratic effort to “take back the House.” It dawned on us that this is yet another advantage of being a national organization. If we can become skilled at mustering support for candidates who agree to espouse our positions, this can become a formidable way to protect our patients and our profession.
Although I am describing our experience at the Democratic convention, obviously all of these lessons apply to the Republican convention as well, and we need allies on both sides of the aisle. This being said, it must be noted that most of the bills we have fought against as being damaging to patients are Republican-sponsored. We need to position ourselves to especially influence the party in power, whichever one that happens to be.
We came away convinced there is great potential for our Association to become even more of a major player in the political process. We have the structure and the will, and we are rapidly developing the experience and the know-how.
Bob Pyles, M.D., is the immediate past president of the APsaA, a founder of the Coalition for Patient Rights, and current chair of the Committee on Government Relations and Insurance. This is his column for TAP on politics and public policy.