Election Day is Today – Be Sure To Vote By 7PM!
Election Day is today! After months of waiting, Arizonans now have the opportunity to take control of who their elected officials will be, including what the State Legislature will look like heading into the 2021 Legislative Session. In reality, Arizonans have already been voting for about a month now—and smashing several early voter turnout records while doing it. The same increase in turnout has been seen in other states across the country.
If you plan on voting today, whether it’s by dropping off your ballot or voting in person, ArMPAC wants you to be prepared. Earlier this month ArMPAC announced its final candidate endorsements ahead of the General Election. You can click here to take a look.
“These candidates were thoroughly vetted by our diverse board and we are excited about their promising impact on healthcare in Arizona,” stated Gary Figge, MD, ArMPAC Board Chair, in a recent press release. “As we approach Election Day and the 2021 Legislative Session soon after, it could not be more clear that Arizona’s physician and patient communities deserve strong and thoughtful voices in state government—and we believe that the candidates we have endorsed will be exactly that.”
Head to arizona.vote for more information on today’s elections. As a final reminder, be sure to drop off your ballot or be in line to vote by 7 p.m. local time to ensure that your ballot will be counted!
Arizona Voters Under 30 Show Dramatic Increase in Turnout
As early voting concludes in Arizona with Election Day still on the horizon, young voters in the state have already cast more ballots in this year’s elections than they did in the elections that were held four years ago. More than 137,000 young Arizonans under the age of 29 have voted either by mail or in person, a 55% increase from the total number of ballots they cast in 2016, according to NextGen Arizona.
Arizona voters in their 30s have also already begun to vote in noticeably larger numbers. More than 149,000 of them have voted so far, surpassing total turnout for that age group in 2016 by 44%.
Just over 86.1 million ballots have already been cast nationwide—more than 62 percent of the overall turnout in 2016. Since about half of respondents in national polls have said that they planned to vote early, these totals appear to signal a remarkable increase in turnout across the board. As of Friday, Texas continues to be a stunner as more than nine million people have voted early, surpassing the state’s total 2016 turnout.
Click here for more on this story and head to arizona.vote to learn more about this year’s elections & how you can vote.
HHS Expands Relief Eligibility, Updates Reporting Requirements
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced that the latest Provider Relief Fund (PRF) application period has been expanded to include provider applicants such as behavioral health providers, emergency medical service providers, and podiatric medicine & surgery service providers that have not yet received PRF distributions.
These providers and all Phase 3 applicants will have until 11:59 p.m. EST on November 6, 2020, to submit their applications for payment consideration. Additionally, in response to concerns raised HHS is amending the reporting instructions to increase flexibility around how providers can apply PRF money toward lost revenues attributable to coronavirus.
Click here for more details on these developments, including the list of eligible providers.
ArMPAC Announces 2020 General Election Candidate Endorsements!
The Arizona Medical Political Action Committee (ArMPAC) is pleased to announce its 2020 general election candidate endorsements for Arizona’s State House of Representatives and Senate. Comprised of physicians across Arizona and led by an 18-member Board of Directors, ArMPAC is a nonpartisan political action committee that supports candidates for office who understand the challenges physicians face today.
“These candidates were thoroughly vetted by our diverse board and we are excited about their promising impact on healthcare in Arizona,” stated Gary Figge, MD, ArMPAC Board Chair. “As we approach Election Day and the 2021 Legislative Session soon after, it could not be more clear that Arizona’s physician and patient communities deserve strong and thoughtful voices in state government—and we believe that the candidates we have endorsed will be exactly that.”
2020 Incumbent Endorsements Include:
Arizona House of Representatives
- Speaker Russell “Rusty” Bowers — LD25
- Rep. Daniel Hernandez — LD2
- Rep. Alma Hernandez — LD3
- Rep. Charlene Fernandez – LD4
- Rep. Regina Cobb — LD5
- Rep. Randall “Randy” Friese, MD — LD9
- Rep. Pamela Powers Hannley — LD9
- Rep. Joanne Osborne — LD13
- Rep. Jeff Weninger — LD17
- Rep. Jennifer Pawlik – LD17
- Rep. Jennifer Jermaine – LD18
- Rep. Diego Espinoza — LD19
- Rep. Lorenzo Sierra — LD19
- Rep. John Kavanagh — LD23
- Rep. Amish Shah, MD — LD24
- Rep. Michelle Udall — LD25
- Rep. Kelli Butler — LD28
- Rep. Aaron Lieberman — LD28
Arizona Senate
- Sen. President Karen Fann — LD1
- Rep. Thomas “T. J.” Shope — LD8
- Sen. Victoria Steele — LD9
- Sen. Vince Leach — LD11
- Rep. Warren Petersen — LD12
- Sen. Sine Kerr — LD13
- Sen. JD Mesnard – LD17
- Sen. Sean Bowie — LD18
- Sen. Rick Gray — LD21
- Sen. Tyler Pace — LD25
- Sen. Rebecca Rios – LD27
- Sen. Kate Brophy McGee — LD28
- Sen. Tony Navarrete – LD30
New Candidate Endorsements Include:
Arizona House of Representatives
- Coral Evans — LD6
- Felipe Perez, MD — LD11
- Kathy Knecht — LD21
Click here to donate to ArMPAC and help elect these pro-physician candidates!
TOMMORROW: Help Shape ArMA’s Advocacy Agenda at Our Annual Advocacy Town Hall!
Join us virtually tomorrow from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and help shape ArMA’s 2021 advocacy agenda at the State Capitol! Share your healthcare-related policy concerns with us as we approach the 2021 Legislative Session — your input is more critical than ever, and this is a chance to give us your thoughts as we develop our policy and advocacy priorities.
This year’s Advocacy Town Hall will cover topics such as future scope of practice challenges, insurance issues, the impact of COVID-19, and more. No matter what your specialty is, we want to hear from YOU! Please RSVP today by clicking here.
We look forward to hearing from you at the Advocacy Town Hall. If you have any questions or need additional information, please feel free to reach out to Meghan McCabe at mmccabe@azmed.org or Jon Amores at jamores@azmed.org. Thank you for your continued engagement and commitment to improving healthcare in Arizona.
Election Day Is Coming Fast—Join the VotER Project Today and Get Out the Vote!
We have less than two weeks until the voter registration deadline. Over 700 clinicians in Arizona are already using VotER to help folks register to vote. Take 30 seconds and download your own Democracy, STAT Toolbox right now to join them and help your patients, colleagues, and loved ones get ready for the election.
“VotER is a nonpartisan project led by physicians, for physicians. When we interact with patients, we have a unique opportunity to also strengthen the democratic process and improve the healthcare system, simply by registering people to vote. I encourage all physicians to use VotER – it’s easy and it makes a difference.”
—Dr. Ricardo Correa, ArMA Board of Directors
TOMORROW: Join Us and Senator Kate Brophy McGee for an ArMPAC Virtual Fundraising Event!
Arizona’s physician community is at a crossroads. To meet this moment, Thursday night’s event was organized to support all of ArMPAC’s endorsed candidates in the upcoming November election. Your donations will go directly to helping these pro-healthcare candidates win critical seats in the Legislature this fall. The stakes are tremendously high as we approach the 2021 legislative session, and much is at stake. We need your help! Click here to watch Senator Brophy McGee’s invitation to physicians to participate in tomorrow night’s event.
Click here to purchase access to the virtual fundraising event, slated to take place tomorrow night from 6:00 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. AZ physicians must help the best candidates to protect both their profession and their patients. Let’s make it happen!
Vaccine Trials Ramp up in Arizona and Across the Country
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt life across the United States, multiple potential vaccines are being developed and tested—some right here in Arizona!
The phase 3 trial of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine took a major step this week as participants began to receive the second of two doses. Phase 3 of clinical testing also began this week for AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine while Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla announced that results from his company’s phase 3 trial could come back as soon as October.
“We expect by the end of October, we should have enough to say whether the product works or not,” he said. U.S. health officials have previously said results from late-stage vaccine trials could come in November or sooner.
In July, the U.S. government announced it would pay Pfizer and BioNTech $1.95 billion to produce and deliver 100 million doses of their vaccine if it proves safe and effective. The deal was signed as part of Operation Warp Speed, the official White House effort to accelerate the development and production of vaccines and treatments to fight COVID-19.
For more detailed information on the latest news regarding vaccines in Arizona, you can view the latest edition of Arizona Vaccine News from the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Surgeons – Voice Your Opposition to Proposed CMS Cuts!
The proposed CME Fee Schedule for 2021 will result in significant cuts to physician payment for most surgical services delivered to Medicare patients.
As proposed, general surgery would experience a 7% cut to Medicare payments, while nearly all surgical specialties will face additional reductions, including cardiac surgery 9%, thoracic surgery 8%, vascular surgery and neurosurgery 7%, and ophthalmology 6%.
The American College of Surgeons has created an online petition for surgeons to contact members of Congress and register their opposition to the proposed cuts. If you would like to add your voice to the effort, click here.
Join your colleagues and let’s keep the pressure on.
Help Your Patients Register to Vote!
A new tool, created by a team of physicians in partnership with voter registration activists, is available to help physicians get their patients registered to vote. As described by its creators, VotER was developed in response to the healthcare inequities that stem from a democratic process where 51 million citizens are not registered to vote.
VotER developed a platform where patients can register to vote on their phones. Click here to take a look. The platform independently walks patients through the steps to check their registration status or register to vote while physicians can continue on to their next patient.
VotER has free badgebackers, lanyards, and posters as part of their Healthy Democracy Kit, available to all interested healthcare workers who access their platform. You can pre-order now on their website at vot-er.org/kit.