The season is upon us! And I don’t mean the NHL or the looming return of Spring Training. It’s legislative season as the Miami-Dade County Legislative Delegation returns to Tallahassee and the Dade County Medical Association (DCMA) prepares for one of the most important legislative sessions in recent memory. The return of the Florida Legislature is coming at an opportune time as our state continues the largest mass vaccination initiative in its history and continues to address the fallout from the pandemic. The return to Tallahassee will provide additional opportunities for our locally-elected officials to shape our recovery and coordinate the pandemic response. These unprecedented challenges demand a renewed focus on collaboration and unwavering leadership.
Members of the DCMA Board of Directors recently had the opportunity to meet with Lt. Governor Jeannette Nuñez to discuss COVID-19 vaccination distribution in Miami-Dade County. Our organization remains committed to making sure that non-hospital-affiliated community physicians have a targeted process to secure the vaccine given the critical importance of community-based care as we try to reduce virus exposure and decrease the strain on hospital capacity and resources.
In what has become an annual tradition, the Miami-Dade County Legislative Delegation and the DCMA held a pre-session meeting to discuss health care issues important to our community. The elevated focus on health care issues was evident by the tremendous turnout of legislators that participated in this year’s event. We would like to thank all 14 Legislators and the three additional legislative staff members who were able to join us. The virtual discussion focused on a series of timely health care issues including the ongoing impact of COVID-19 and vaccination distribution, telehealth services, health insurance prior authorization reform, prescription drug coverage, and liability relief for physicians battling COVID-19. Each legislator in attendance was able to share their health care initiatives for the coming session.
Based on the feedback we received, the event was the best in years and sets the table for a successful and policy-focused debate in Tallahassee.
The season is upon us! And I don’t mean the NHL or the looming return of Spring Training. It’s legislative season as the Miami-Dade County Legislative Delegation returns to Tallahassee and the Dade County Medical Association (DCMA) prepares for one of the most important legislative sessions in recent memory. The return of the Florida Legislature is coming at an opportune time as our state continues the largest mass vaccination initiative in its history and continues to address the fallout from the pandemic. The return to Tallahassee will provide additional opportunities for our locally-elected officials to shape our recovery and coordinate the pandemic response. These unprecedented challenges demand a renewed focus on collaboration and unwavering leadership. 
