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Advocacy by our members is central to CalDerm’s mission of preserving dermatologists’ ability to provide high-quality, evidence-based patient care. One of our most active groups, the Legislative Committee, meets monthly during the legislative cycle and welcomes all members interested in grassroots advocacy across California. The committee includes 15 CalDerm members, our lobbyist, and medical student representative Dorothy Peng. Members this past cycle included Drs. Rawaa Almukhtar, Maria Buethe, Jason Castillo, Jeffrey Crowley, Shani Francis, Ann Haas, Marvi Iqbal, Jayne Joo, Michelle Min, Elan Newman, Lily Park, Jerome Potozkin, Hege Sarpa, Melissa Shive, Andrea Willey, Linda Wong, and Lulu Wong-Jensen. We thank them for their time and commitment to advancing our advocacy efforts. Bryce Docherty, Founder and CEO of TDG Strategies in Sacramento, serves as CalDerm’s lobbyist, meeting regularly with legislators to represent our organization at the Capitol. The committee is co-chaired by Drs. Jason Castillo and Jerome Potozkin, both accomplished Mohs surgeons and CalDerm Board members. Looking ahead, the committee is relaunching the Capitol Connection newsletter to provide quarterly updates on tracked legislation, advocacy events, and key policy developments. During the most recent legislative cycle, the committee took positions on 19 bills - those we supported advanced to the Governor’s desk, while those we opposed were either defeated or amended to remove CalDerm’s concerns. Respectfully, Jason and Jerry Legislative Update: Each year, dermatologists across the United States attend the American Academy of Dermatology Association (AADA) Legislative Conference in Washington DC to advocate for our specialty at the Capitol. California typically has a large number of dermatologists who attend, and this year was no exception. There were 7 board certified dermatologists and 1 dermatology resident from California who attended this recent conference in Washington DC. This year, the AADA prioritized Medicare Physician Payment reform to establish a positive annual inflation adjustment and to replace or eliminate neutrality requirements to the physician payment system. Please click the following link to learn more about this year’s past AADA Congressional Agenda. 2025 AADA Congressional Advocacy Agenda. We encourage all CalDerm members to consider attending in September 2026. Advocacy Highlights: Scope of Practice Scope of practice has been a major advocacy focus across the house of medicine. CalDerm members Drs. Elan Newman, MD, FAAD and Ann Haas, MD, FAAD, FACMS recently had their manuscript published in Dermatologic Surgery entitled “Patient Understanding of Health Care Practitioner Titles-A California Survey”. The article highlights the results and implications of a survey that assessed how commonly used medical titles and specialty descriptors are understood by Californians in relation to training and qualifications. The survey was co-founded by CalDerm, CSA, and ASA. We congratulate Drs. Newman, Haas and their co-authors on their recent publication and thank them for their advocacy. Dr. Newman is on the CalDerm BOD. Dr. Haas is a twice past President of CalDerm. They are both active in state and national dermatologic committees. E-published ahead of Print: Newman EM, Haas AF, Levin PR, Menor CM, Hernandez Conte A. Patient Understanding of Health Care Practitioner Titles-A California Survey. Dermatol Surg. 2025 Aug 26. doi: 10.1097/DSS.0000000000004807. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40856352. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40856352/
CMA and AMA successfully advocated to protect truth in advertising within California. Recently in Palmer v Bonta, a federal judge rejected the challenge to California’s Truth in Advertising Law. This landmark decision upheld that licensed physicians can use the title of “Doctor” in clinical settings. See the CMA announcement on the provided link: Court upholds physician title protections
Beginning October 1st, 2025, Cigna planned to automatically downcode higher level E/M services when the billed level was not supported by the documentation. Downcoded levels would need to be appealed resulting in increased administrative burdens, delayed access to care, and fair payment for healthcare. Through advocacy of numerous organizations, this is currently on pause for automatic downcoding pending DMHC review. See the CMA announcement on the provided link: Cigna agrees to pause controversial downcoding policy Pharmacy Regulations On October 1, 2025, California Board of Pharmacy regulations took effect regarding sterile and non-sterile compounding. CalDERM sought amendments to these regulations exempting physicians and continuing to allow dermatologists in private practice to buffer lidocaine in-office. Final regulations clearly stated that they only apply to pharmacies and pharmacists. California Board of Pharmacy Sterile and Non-Sterile Compounding Regulations
Goal: $100,000.00
Collected: $16,779.00
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Co-Chair - Jerome Potozkin, MD Jerome R. Potozkin, MD, Inc.
Co-Chair - Jason Castillo, MD Harbor-UCLA, Bernard J Tyson SOM Committee Members:
Rawaa Almukhtar MD Kristina Dela Rosa MD Hege Grande Sarpa MD Marvi Iqbal MD Jayne Joo MD Michelle Min MD Elan Newman MD Lily Park DO Melissa Shive MD MPH Lulu Wong-Jensen MD Erica Baugh MD PGY4 (resident) Dorothy Peng (medical student committee liaison)
Political Solutions Upcoming Legislative Dates:
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