A congressman who has worked to permanently repeal and replace the flawed Medicare sustainable growth rate formula by introducing a bill to repeal it was one of four recipients of the AMA’s top government service honor in health care.
Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., serves as chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce which, along with the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee, introduced a bipartisan bill last month that, if passed, will protect patients, reward quality and incentivize models of care. Rep. Upton has served as a member of Congress for 26 years.
Rep. Upton received one of the Dr. Nathan Davis Awards for Outstanding Government Service, presented Wednesday during the AMA National Advocacy Conference in Washington, D.C. The award, named for the founder of the AMA, recognizes elected and career officials in federal, state or municipal service whose outstanding contributions have promoted the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health.
Other award winners include:
• Lt. Gen. Paul K. Carlton, Jr., MD, former surgeon general of the United States Air Force, for his contribution to improving military trauma care and survival rates for injured members of the armed forces
• Assemblyman Richard Pan, MD, a pediatrician and representative for the California State Assembly’s 9th District and chair of the Assembly Committee on Health, for his commitment to leadership in public health
• Susan E. Birch, RN, executive director of the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, for her innovative work to reform Colorado’s Medicaid system and transform Colorado’s health care delivery and payment system.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Dr. Nathan Davis Awards. Since 1989, the AMA has honored 216 men and women with the Nathan Davis Award.
“During the last quarter century of the Nathan Davis Awards, the AMA has sought to recognize government officials who go above and beyond the call of duty to improve public health,” said AMA Chair David O. Barbe, MD. “Award winners have come from every branch of government service and are a testament to the important role public officials play in creating and implementing health policy that benefits Americans.”
