Few more physicians got elected to the 112th Congress

Compared to lawyers, physicians are a rare breed of the Congress. Only 16 physicians are serving in the current U.S. House and Senate. Six new physicians have been elected to serve in the next Congress:

• Larry Bucshon, MD from Indiana ran as a Republican
• Nan Hayworth, MD from New York ran as a Republican
• Andy Harris, MD from Maryland ran as a Republican
• Dan Benishek, MD from Michigan ran as a Republican
• Scott DesJarlais, MD from Tennessee ran as a Republican
• Joseph Heck, DO from Nevada ran as a Republican

Senator Rand Paul

In addition, Rand Paul, MD was elected to the U.S. Senate to represent the state of Kentucky as a republican. He joins Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and John Anthony Barrasso of Wyoming who also both Republicans. With these additions, there will be a total of 20 physicians serving the 112th session of Congress. Kudos to these physicians for their leadership and public service!

This year of elections saw a record of physicians running for congress, a total of 47 doctors. Six candidates ran as Democrats, and 41 ran as Republicans.

Dr. Heck is the only DO to serve in the House in the modern area. Read more about this historic victory.

Several DOs have been elected to the State Legislatures.  Ronald “Doc” Renaurt, DO (R) was elected to the Florida House in District 18; Terry Johnson, DO (R), was elected to the Ohio House in District 89; and Mike Ritze, DO (R), was elected to represent District 80 in the Oklahoma House.

The timing of this historic, but small, number of doctors serving in Congress is critical as the physician community faces the impending threat of a 23 percent cut in Medicare payments on Dec.1 and an additional 6 percent cut on Jan.1. These cuts threaten access to care for seniors. Congress has failed on numerous occasions to permanently fix the sustainable growth rate system. Hopefully, these new doctors in the House will provide leadership in tackling the issue of Medicare physician fee and the implementation of the healthcare law.