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AMPAC: What is a Political Action Committee? What political party does the American Medical Association support? Does the AMA lobby? How is AMPAC funded?
Rob Jordan, vice president of political affairs at the American Medical Association, answers the most common questions about the AMA’s bipartisan political action committee, AMPAC contribution criteria and political education, as well as AMPAC's role in political and medical advocacy. AMA Chief Experience Officer Todd Unger hosts.
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- AMPAC Candidate Workshop.
- AMPAC Campaign School.
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Speaker
- Rob Jordan, vice president of political affairs, American Medical Association
Transcript
Unger: Hello and welcome to the AMA Update video and podcast. Today we're talking about AMPAC, which is the bipartisan political action committee of the AMA. Our guest today is Rob Jordan, vice president of political affairs at the AMA in Washington, DC. I'm Todd Unger, AMA's chief experience officer in Chicago. Rob, it's a pleasure to have you with us today.
Jordan: Thanks for having me, Todd.
Unger: Well, I thought before we got into AMPAC and talking about that in more detail, I think maybe it would be helpful for some folks out there just to get some background on how a PAC works. Can you give us a brief overview there?
Jordan: A political action committee, or a PAC, is a popular term for a political committee that's organized by like-minded people for the purpose of raising and spending money to elect and/or defeat federal candidates. The PACs money must come from voluntary contributions from members rather than the members' dues, treasury funds.
Other than individuals, traditional PACs like AMPAC, are the only entities that can directly contribute to candidates, and this is typically done at fundraising events and meetings where representatives of the PAC will meet with the candidate and talk about issues that are important to them. So for an organization like the AMA, the PAC is an invaluable tool for building relationships with the key decision makers in Congress who ultimately decide the fate of medicine's agenda.
Unger: And of course, Rob, right in the middle of political season that we are, sometimes PACs seem to get a bad rap around money. Talk a little bit about that.
Jordan: Sure, I think they do get a little bit of a bad rap as a symbol of the money in politics. And specifically, I think, what people feel like is just too much money in politics in general. But the reality, when you look at PACs like AMPAC, they're traditional PACs that are regulated by the FEC, and that ensures the utmost transparency and accountability. So really, there is no opaqueness when it comes to PACS like AMPAC and how they're involved in the political process.
Unger: Well, good. Let's get into a little bit more detail about AMPAC and its mission relative to, say, every other PAC out there.
Jordan: Sure. Well, founded in 1961, AMPAC is actually the oldest non-union political action committee in the United States. AMPAC helped pioneer, in fact, political programs that now many organizations routinely engage in, such as strategic communications to federal candidates, independent expenditures, political education programs, partisan communications and even in-kind polling. As you said earlier, AMPAC is a bipartisan political action committee for the AMA, and it exists to elect medicine-friendly candidates to the U.S. Congress. And we combine contributions of thousands of physicians and support federal candidates who are true champions of medicine.
Unger: And with so much kind of going against physicians these days, and the need to make sure they can do what they love to do, which is treat patients, what you said really matters, which is medicine and physician-friendly candidates out there. Rob, who exactly contributes to AMPAC? Is this something that any physician can do to make a contribution?
Jordan: It's an important point. Contributions can actually only be solicited from members of our restricted class. And what that is composed of are members of the AMA, state and county medical society members, and those society's executive and administrative staff, as well as the family members of each of those people. AMPAC membership levels range for as little as $20 for medical students and residents and $100 for physicians to just join, as well as our capital club major donor giving, which people can take advantage of starting at $500 all the way up to $5,000 annually. And there are benefits provided for those various levels of support. If you're a member of the AMA, I encourage you to go to ampaconline.org and find out more about how to join.
Unger: All right. So Rob, that covers how AMPAC is funded. Let's talk a little bit about where the money goes. How does AMPAC decide who to donate to and are there certain criteria that you look for?
Jordan: Absolutely. We have direct input of each representative state medical society PAC and AMPAC supports candidates for U.S. Congress who have demonstrated an understanding and a willingness to fight for the issues that are important to medicine. Things like Medicare payment reform, prior authorization reform, medical liability and other issues to include expanded access to health care for all Americans. The impact board then reviews and approves requests for the direct candidate contributions.
And other activities that AMPAC has engaged in in the past and will engage in in the future include things like independent expenditures, which are advertising campaigns in support of candidates that we want to elect, and done independently of the particular candidate's campaigns and partisan communications, which are, basically, get out the vote messages in the form of mail, email, and even phone outreach that we can send to our restricted class urging them to vote for a particular candidate.
Unger: Now, Rob, just to clarify for the folks out there, you've got the AMA and you've got AMPAC. They are both advocating on behalf of physicians. Why do we need two separate organizations to do this?
Jordan: Well, the AMA and AMPAC work together. The AMA has an aggressive legislative advocacy effort on Capitol Hill. But truly, no amount of advocacy or lobbying through the AMA can be effective without legislators who understand and are willing to fight for our issues. AMPAC helps elect those candidates, and the AMA works with them in shaping federal legislation, again, such as Medicare payment reform.
Those opportunities that AMPAC contributions will create for our advocacy team to interact and build relationships with those key lawmakers who can advance our agenda is invaluable. And I would just say the importance of AMPAC's contribution to the AMA's federal advocacy efforts cannot be overstated. Also, by law, the AMA cannot directly fund federal candidates from the AMA's treasury. Only a PAC can do that. And so we rely solely on the generosity of AMA members for that.
And just finally, I would say, physicians cannot afford to stay on the sidelines in today's environment. Legislators who support physicians on contentious and hard-fought issues regularly are coming under fire from the opposition, and AMPAC has to be ready to defend our allies in Congress from attacks by opponents.
Unger: So that makes a lot of sense. A huge and separate role for AMPAC in terms of how it supports AMA's advocacy. One thing that folks out there might not know is something else that AMPAC does, and that's help train physicians on how to run for office, be one of those medicine-friendly candidates and get involved in political campaigns. Rob, can you tell us more about that, and why it's so important to have physicians in these legislative roles?
Jordan: Yes, this is through AMPAC's political education function. The two primary programs are the candidate workshop and the campaign school. The workshop is a two day in-person program designed to help physicians make that leap from the exam room to the campaign trail and really give them the skills and strategic approach that they need to make a run for public office. We bring together Republican and Democratic political veterans who work together to provide expert advice about being a successful candidate and how to run a winning campaign.
So that two-day workshop is typically held in March or April in our DC offices. And there's a discounted registration. If you're an AMPAC member or a spouse for $250. It's $1,000 for non-AMA members. And the registration fee is waived for students and residents, but only if they're selected from a pool of qualified candidates.
The campaign school, the other one, is a three-day in-person program. And it's renowned for its use of a simulated campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives, complete with demographics, voting statistics and candidate biographies, really everything that's involved in a real campaign. The participants actually get broken into campaign staff teams, and they apply what they learn in real life, exercises and strategy, vote targeting, social media, paid advertising and public speaking.
And then insider tactics, again, taught by experts from both ends of the political spectrum who are currently advising campaigns at every level around the country. And that school is held typically September, October, again, in our DC offices. And there's a discount registration for AMA members and spouses for $350. Again, $1,000 for non-AMA members. And registration and fee again waived for students and residents.
Unger: Wow. Two really great training and education opportunities for those who want to get more involved. Rob, thank you so much for joining us. AMPAC plays such an important role in advocating for physicians. We appreciate you giving us the background and letting us learn more about it. If you want to learn even more about AMPAC, you can visit ampaconline.org. And if you happen to be visiting the AMA Interim Meeting in Orlando, stop by the AMPAC booth and talk to somebody in person.
That wraps up today's episode. We'll be back soon with another AMA Update. Be sure to subscribe for new episodes and find all our videos and podcasts at ama-assn.org/podcasts.
Thanks for joining us today. Please take care.
Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed in this video are those of the participants and/or do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the AMA.
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