Message from the Chair – NEMPAC Board of Trustees

Bruce S. Auerbach, MD, FACEP 

On behalf of the NEMPAC Board of Trustees, I would like to personally thank the ACEP members who helped NEMPAC move up the ranks to become one of the top physician specialty PACs in the country. NEMPAC reached an all-time fundraising record of $1,045,136 in 2008. Combined with our prior fundraising record of $870,000 in 2007, NEMPAC collected nearly $2 million in the 2007-08 election cycle, allowing us to impact more congressional races and represent the interests of emergency physicians as never before.  

Our contributions to the campaigns of more than 200 winning candidates sent a unified message of support from the specialty of emergency medicine. ACEP and our member physicians are recognized by legislators as leaders in both the political process and in the development of sound health care policy in Washington, D.C.  

I look forward to a time of change and challenge in 2009 when it will be critical for emergency medicine to have a seat at the table. Not only is health care reform one of the top domestic issues for the new Administration and Congress, but other problems that we have been working hard to bring to the attention of Congress - including Medicare physician payment reform, boarding, medical liability reform, and access to care – are even more critical, and in need of solutions today. 

Organizations such as ours must rely on our membership to answer the call when our specialty and the patients we treat are threatened. I am proud of the support of our membership, but I know that we can do better. We have all benefited from ACEP’s efforts on Capitol Hill, some of you have gone above and beyond in your support, but not all have pitched in when and where we can.  

If you have not supported NEMPAC in the past, now is the time. If you have, thank you, and consider increasing your support. It is no longer enough to learn, teach, and practice emergency medicine to ensure the growth and stability of our specialty. We all must be proactively involved in the politics and policymaking that affects our practice and the patients we see on a daily basis. 

It is time for every emergency physician to step up to the plate and support the only organization that works specifically to support emergency medicine and emergency patients. If each ACEP member contributed the equivalent of one shift to NEMPAC each year, our PAC would have over $10 million to support candidates who support ACEP’s goals.  

It is a privilege to serve as Chairman of the NEMPAC Board of Trustees. I welcome your support and participation in 2009.

 

  Contact NEMPAC
  1125 Executive Circle
  Irving, Texas 75038-2522
  202-728-0610, ext. 3013
  NEMPAC@acep.org

ACEP members may contribute to NEMPAC online. Please contact Jeanne Slade, ACEP's Political Action Director at 800-320-0610, ext. 3013 for more information.