Advocacy plays a central role in the medical profession, according to a recent message from the Colorado Medical Society (CMS). The organization emphasizes that shaping health care policy is best achieved when physicians are actively involved, as they have firsthand experience with how legislation affects patient care, affordability, and provider sustainability.
“Advocacy is the backbone of our profession. It shapes policy, protects our ability to care for patients, and ensures that health care policy is heavily influenced by physicians: the people who understand it best. It is also the top member benefit of the Colorado Medical Society, and one all Colorado physicians rely on – regardless of membership. I’ll return to that point in a moment and tell you why every single Colorado physician must become a CMS member and continue to invest in membership year after year,” a CMS leader stated.
The society’s lobbyist, Dan Jablan, likened health care policy to New Year’s resolutions—broad goals requiring consistent effort through advocacy to achieve real change. “These are high-level goals that you set to improve your life, like being healthier or getting finances under control. Advocacy is the work you put in to achieve that policy. In the resolutions example, this is committing to a regular fitness class, eating fewer processed foods, putting aside more in savings,” Jablan explained.
According to CMS leadership, ongoing commitment is essential for effective advocacy. “You’re not going to achieve your year’s goal of becoming healthier if you go on one run. Physician advocacy also requires returning to the work again and again. This consistency is what makes policies to improve patient care a reality, whether it’s dismantling barriers to care or defending the integrity of peer review.”
Efforts such as reforming prior authorization processes required years of relationship building and data analysis before legislative success was achieved. Similarly, maintaining liability caps has been an ongoing challenge since CMS leaders championed tort reforms decades ago and helped found Copic when other insurance carriers left Colorado.
“Similarly, last session’s liability caps battle was decades in the making. CMS leaders championed the original tort reforms back in the late ’80s and early ’90s, and founded Copic when other liability insurance carriers left the state and insurance premiums skyrocketed. From that point on, the Colorado Medical Society closely monitored all threats to our stable medical liability climate – and there are many every single session,” said CMS leadership.
Twelve years ago, CMS helped establish Coloradans Protecting Patient Access (CPPA) alongside business groups—a coalition that played a key role during recent attempts by trial attorneys to remove liability caps and confidentiality protections in peer review processes.
“Then 12 years ago, we helped bring together physicians and the business community to form Coloradans Protecting Patient Access (CPPA) that continued this critical work. It came to a boiling point last session when the Colorado Medical Society, within the CPPA coalition, had the fight of our lives as trial attorneys attempted to eliminate all caps on liability and eliminate confidentiality in peer review. We came through that fight keeping a cap and peer review intact, and avoided a costly ballot fight.”
CMS has also worked with coalitions on public health initiatives such as banning smoking indoors nearly two decades ago through bipartisan support for what became known as the Colorado Clean Air Act.
“CMS regularly builds coalitions to pass good policy. Nearly 20 years ago, we were entrenched in the fight to ban smoking in indoor public spaces, facing significant backlash from businesses and the tobacco industry. Yet, through bipartisan support and relentless advocacy, we succeeded in making a lasting impact on public health with the passage of the Colorado Clean Air Act.”
For those involved at CMS leadership levels, advocacy remains personal—a way for physicians’ expertise to inform lawmakers directly at places like Colorado’s Capitol.
“For me, advocacy is personal. It’s about using my expertise as a physician to inform decision-makers and shape better policies. It’s about the privilege of walking into the Capitol, engaging directly with legislators, and having my voice heard.”
The society calls for increased membership among Colorado physicians so their collective voice can be stronger at legislative levels: “Here’s the call to membership that I promised. Advocacy doesn’t happen in a vacuum; it requires numbers, resources and strategic action. Membership growth is a key priority for our organization because the strength of our voice in legislature is directly tied to size of our membership and resources we can allocate…”
