With this being an election year for the entire House of Representatives, one-third of the Senate, and the President, and with so many contested races, PAC fundraising by incumbent/new candidates is likely to be at an all-time high. All these elections provide SVS additional opportunities to educate candidates about our issues. On behalf of the SVS Political Action Committee (PAC), we are asking you to contribute to the SVS PAC so that the voice of Vascular Surgery can be even stronger in 2012.

 

SVS PAC contributions create access by enabling SVS members and staff to attend fundraisers and personally interact with targeted members of Congress who determine the future of vascular surgery, including those who serve on health committees, in leadership positions, and/or are physicians, along with non-incumbent candidates who are supportive of our issues.  SVS PAC efforts in 2011 were a catalyst for the following successes:

·         Averting a 27 percent pay cut to Medicare          physician reimbursement for two months;

·         Averting additional cuts to vascular imaging;

·         Convincing a majority of House members to co-sponsor the Rep. Roe, MD (R-TN) bill that
would repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board;

·         Being “at the table” for Medicare physician payment reform.

 

In the past year, 180 SVS members contributed to the PAC for a total of $87,000; we truly thank those members for their commitment in helping advance the goal of the PAC: promoting health care decisions that favor vascular disease patients and the vascular surgeons who care for them. However, this is only 5 percent of the entire SVS membership, meaning that 95 percent have not contributed to the PAC.

 

We urge all SVS members to make a contribution on the donation form. We strongly agree with David Deaton, MD, a member of the SVS PAC who stated in a recent video: “I believe that supporting the SVS PAC is one of our professional duties and is an investment in the future of vascular surgery”.  And, 100 percent of your SVS PAC contribution goes directly to candidates.

 

Contributors receive an invitation to an exclusive Tenth Anniversary PAC reception held on Capitol Hill with members of Congress during the 2012 Vascular Annual Meeting®, a PAC pin, and a PAC luggage tag, More importantly, contributors have the satisfaction of knowing that vascular surgery’s voice will be strongly heard on Capitol Hill.

 

Sincerely,

Richard Cambria, MD, SVS President

Carlo Dall’Olmo, MD, SVS PAC Chair