Members of the San Bernardino County Medical Society actively participated in the California Medical Association House of Delegates meeting in Sacramento, Oct. 28-30. The CMA celebrated its 150th anniversary and dealt with 145 resolutions and 46 reports.

The resolutions fell into seven major categories including Medical Practice Issues; Federal Health Programs and Health System Reform; CMA Membership, Finance and Governance; Insurance and Physician Reimbursement; Quality, Ethics and Legal Issues; Health Professions and Health Facilities; and Science and Public Health.

Some of the more interesting resolutions addressed adequate prescription medication supply and personal medication supply in times of disaster; criminalization of care provided to undocumented patients; universal healthcare access in California; physician reimbursement in a single-payer system; balance billing arbitration; eliminating silent PPOs; and physician-assisted dying.

Why should you care about this meeting?

While some members question the value of the SBCMS, the CMA and the American Medical Association, it's clear that these organizations help physicians and their practices on various levels. The delegates and alternates to the CMA and AMA houses establish the policies and set the agendas of their respective organizations. Legislative, regulatory and legal positions and strategies are developed to address concerns brought forward by individual physicians, medical groups, public health departments and medical students.

The District II Delegation (San Bernardino/Riverside) proudly announced the candidacy of Dev GnanaDev, MD, for 2007 CMA president-elect. The CMA HOD gave Dr. GnanaDev a standing ovation. Thelma Korpman, MD, was elected treasurer of the California Medical Association Political Action Committee and will serve on its executive committee. Rodney Borger, MD, was also elected to the CALPAC board, as was Linda Stratton, SBCMS executive director. Ron Bangasser, MD, received the CMA's prestigious James A. MacLaggen Political Action Award.

The following physicians represented SBCMS members: Victor Ching, MD; Thelma Korpman, MD; Mohan Mallam, MD; Frank Randolph, MD; Michael Sequeira, MD; John Testerman, MD; Elliot Weinstein, MD; Jeannette Benjamin, MD; Damodara Rajasekhar, MD; Rodney Borger, MD; Sharon Jeffries, MD; Edward Hess, MD; Ron Bangasser, MD; Dev GnanaDev, MD; Jiten Patel, MD; John Mace, MD; and medical students Laura Gephart, David Clements and John Hotchkiss IV.