GEORGIA

GCEP is proud to have successfully completed the second year of applications for its Georgia diversity scholarship. The goal is to help an underrepresented minority 4th-year medical student participate in an emergency medicine rotation anywhere within the state of Georgia. GCEP continues to support a successful leadership fellowship program that equips its participants for advocacy at multiple levels. In 2023, the program will add a third fellow. Many of its program graduates are actively involved in GCEP, ACEP, and the American Medican Association (AMA).

ILLINOIS

ICEP supported state funding of the new 9-8-8 emergency care number for behavioral health emergencies and helped pass legislation to improve the Sexual Assault Survivors Emergency Treatment Act (SASETA). ICEP is represented on the new Community Emergency Services and Supports Act (CESSA) technical advisory committee to develop protocols for Mobile Crisis Response (MCR) for 9-8-8 calls and continues to collaborate with state officials to develop strategies to reduce emergency department (ED) boarding, especially those with behavioral health issues.

Members of the Indiana Chapter pose during legislative meetings at ACEP’s 2022 Leadership & Advocacy Conference.

LOUISIANA

Louisiana ACEP was active in the state legislature defending the practice of medicine against scope creep by non-physician practitioners, all while enduring a very active hurricane season. Louisiana ACEP was proud to receive the ACEP Council Teamwork award at the last council meeting.

MARYLAND

Maryland ACEP has been diligently working with the Maryland Department of Health to address emergency medicine billing/reimbursement issues related to Optum, the state’s Administrative Service Organization for Behavioral Health Services. After countless discussions, letters, and a legislative hearing, Optum issued a Provider Alert that can be viewed on the Optum website. MDACEP urges its members to resubmit any claims with a mental health primary diagnosis that were erroneously denied. This is a big win for Maryland ACEP.

MASSACHUSETTS

The state’s current two-year legislative session has come to a close. MACEP was asked to join several work groups that came out of recently passed legislation. The chapter has developed an annual advocacy report to track our advocacy efforts that is available at www.macep.org.

MICHIGAN

MCEP welcomed its new Executive Director, Christy Snitgen, who has been with MCEP for 27 years. MCEP continues to monitor the changing legal landscape post-Roe and is working diligently to mitigate how the Dobbs v. Jackson decision affects emergency physicians and patients. MCEP’s Diana Nordlund, DO, JD, FACEP, and Antony Hsu, MD, FACEP, are co-chairing ACEP’s EM Reproductive Health and Patient Safety Task Force. In 2022, MCEP had representation on each of the Council Reference Committees: Dr. Hsu, Dr. Nordlund and Bradford Walters, MD.