Issues

Initiatives

In 2012, during the Second Session of the 112th Congress, the FPA will be working to:

• Determine when federal agencies using modified title 38 pay systems will eliminate the large disparity in pay between VA physicians and other physicians.
• Educate Members of Congress on how cuts in federal health programs could undermine the nation's health care.
• Lobby the Administration and Congress to improve the annual Physicians Comparability Allowance report to include all types of physician pay, by specialty and geographic area.
• Analyze the implementation of the new DoD Physician and Denstist Pay Plan (PDPP) and advise FPA members as needed on questions arising from conversion to PDPP.
• Continue to collect revisions/updates to all federal agency policies, procedures and guidelines on federal physician pay and maintain them in the website Library.
• Identify federal agency contacts who serve as the lead official(s) on physician pay and work with them to keep informed about physician pay activities in all federal agencies.
• Collect and review physician performance plans to develop a clearinghouse of physician pay-for-performance plans.
• Contact physicians in the Department of Veterans Affairs to monitor implementation of special pay and pay-for-performance in the VA.
• Meet with Members of Congress and their staffs to discuss issues affecting federal physicians.
• Double the number of members of the Federal Physicians Association to increase FPA's influence in the agencies and Congress..

Accomplishments

For over 30 years, the Federal Physicians Association has been the principal advocate for the concerns of federal civil service physicians. FPA has worked on behalf of federal physicians to:

• Urge Congress to include the Physicians Comparability Allowance (PCA) in basic pay for retirement purposes

• Lobby Congress and the Clinton Administration to increase in the maximum PCA to $30,000 a year.

• Provide detailed pay and benefit information to ensure union contracts covering federal physicians include the most favorable pay and benefit guidelines.

• Secure a legal opinion to support a law that mandates periodic increases in physician special pay rates.

• Notify the Office of Personnel Management of an error in published special pay rates for physicians, resulting in a substantial pay increase for several GS-14/15 physicians.

• Influence Congress to increase the maximum PCA from $10,000 to $20,000 a year in 1987.

• Implement the PCA, which was accomplished by the founding members of FPA in 1978.

• Lobby for federal government approval of the Department of Health and Human Services Title 38 physician special pay plan.