News & Advocacy

OAR Presents Advocacy Update At Annual Meeting

posted: September 26, 2018

Rheumatologists from around Ohio gathered in Columbus from August 24 - 25, 2018 to attend the OAR 13th Annual Meeting. During the two day meeting, attendees were treated to a robust agenda filled with sessions focusing on a wide range of both scientific and socioeconomical topics. Included in the agenda was an Advocacy Update presented by OAR President, Dr. Stephanie Ott.

The session began with a rundown of OAR’s 2018 Advocacy Day. Advocates from the OAR and Arthritis Foundation (AF) gathered at the State Capitol in Columbus in April to meet with legislators and discuss patient access legislation that was being debated at the Statehouse. Dr. Ott spoke to the audience about the importance of attending Advocacy Day and sharing your personal story with legislators. The group was asked to pledge to attend 2019 Advocacy Day, which will take place sometime in April of 2019.

Dr. Ott continued to discuss state and federal issues of importance to rheumatologists in Ohio. Among the topics were step therapy, prior authorization, accumulator adjustment programs, PBMs, and the proposed changes to the 2019 Physician Fee Schedule. The session closed with Dr. Ott reminding the audience that rheumatologists need to be at the negotiating table in order to protect themselves and their patients from unwanted changes and policies.

If you are interested in attending 2019 Advocacy Day, please contact Chelsea Jerominski at chelsea@wjweiser.com to stay apprised of updates.