LETTER FROM OUR CEO

For over a century and a half, CMA has worked tirelessly to improve health care for all Californians and ensure high-quality care for patients throughout the state.

At the beginning of 2022, as the pandemic entered its third year, CMA faced many uncertainties, including a statewide initiative set to appear on the November 2022 ballot that would have effectively eliminated MICRA’s cap on non-economic damages. If passed, the initiative would have brought catastrophic disruption to the health care system. Although California physicians were confronting unparalleled changes in the health care system caused by the pandemic, they were resolute in their fight against the initiative and CMA was able to quickly mount an effective opposition.

With the help of a strong coalition – composed of health care providers, hospitals, community clinics, advocates, labor groups and others – CMA successfully worked to secure a landmark agreement that removed the dangerous initiative from the ballot, while preserving the principles of MICRA and stabilizing malpractice liability costs for decades to come.

2022 also saw CMA using lessons learned during the pandemic to advocate for policy victories. We fought to expand full-scope Medi-Cal coverage to all Californians, made telehealth a permanent option and secured funding to retain valuable health care workers.

While many of these policy wins are significant on their own, they won’t be fully realized without removing barriers that continue to limit health care access for millions of Californians. That is why CMA is already looking ahead to the future and getting to work to improve Medi-Cal reimbursement rates, which haven’t seen a funding increase in decades.

In the legislature, 2022 marked the end of one era and the beginning of another, as Senator Richard Pan, M.D., ended his term in office and Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains, M.D., began hers.

Dr. Pan’s tenure was marked with many accomplishments, and we remain particularly grateful for his leadership navigating health care policy as chair of the Senate Health Committee, as well as his work to improve vaccine rates throughout our state. Time magazine named Dr. Pan a national “vaccine hero,” and we certainly agree.

We are thrilled that Dr. Bains is starting in the legislature in 2023, joining fellow physician Assemblymembers Akilah Weber, M.D., and Joaquin Arambula, M.D. As a family physician from the Central Valley and the state’s first Sikh lawmaker, Dr. Bains will be a much-needed voice.

CMA remains committed to empowering physicians to create a fair and equitable health care system for all patients. By ending the attacks on MICRA, we are already using our collective energy and resources toward making positive changes in the state’s health care delivery system.

The staff at CMA are always honored to support physicians and the practice of medicine – and we look forward to all that we can accomplish together in 2023 and beyond.

Dustin Corcoran Chief Executive Officer