I know you all have been busy with overcrowded emergency rooms, seeing patients in waiting rooms and hallways. As a result, advocacy has probably been far from the front of your minds. This latest surge of COVID-19 patients has been something I’ll remember for the rest of my career, and I am thankful that as of this writing, it appears to be on the decline. Currently, the FCEP team is preparing as committee weeks in Tallahassee begin for the legislature. We will be monitoring for any legislation that could affect emergency physicians and our practices.

We had an eleventh hour victory in late June when Governor DeSantis vetoed the PIP repeal bill. You may remember from my last update over the summer that this bill was a priority of Senate President Simpson and passed through both the House and Senate. Once on the Governor’s desk it was publicly revealed it would raise premiums and lead to more public controversy and FCEP continued to advocate for its veto.

Symposium by the Sea was also a great success, and FCEP presented Senator Kathleen Passidomo with our Legislator of the Year Award. She has been a great friend to emergency physicians and the House of Medicine in general during her time in the legislature. Relationships with leaders like this are cultivated through multiple years of advocacy. These relationships would not be possible without your help, and I want to thank every one of you who have donated to the FCEP PAC. Please continue to help us get our foot in the doors of legislators throughout the halls of the capitol by contributing regularly in the future. I consider it an investment in the future of our specialty.

In the upcoming session, we will likely continue to see bills pushed by nurse practitioners and physician assistants to move goal posts again on scope of practice changes. We will also continue to push to have the arbitration process in the state of Florida function as it was meant to, with mandatory participation when arbitration is needed. If your groups run into any problems with insurers refusing to participate in arbitration through MAXIMUS, we want to know, so contact FCEP immediately. This winter we will be planning a return to Tallahassee for what will hopefully be an in-person EM Days event sometime in late January or early February. Please be on the lookout for more information about this in the future so that you can join us* at fcep.org/emdays. ■

*Editor’s Note: Emergency Medicine Days 2022 is an invitation-only event this year due to pandemic restrictions at the state capitol. However, virtual primer sessions will be offered to all members leading up to our in-person event. Stay tuned for more information.