The Final First Tuesday at the Capitol
Physicians who took part in the final First Tuesday of the legislative session on May 7 pushed
the participant numbers to a record 1,300 for the 2019 First Tuesdays program. DCMS was wellrepresented
at each First Tuesday in February, March, April, and May. Even toward the end of the
180-day session, legislators were happy to talk with their physician constituents about issues including
raising the age to purchase tobacco and easing rules regarding prior authorization requirements.
First-term representative Julie Johnson (D-Farmers Branch) and Rick Snyder, MD,
celebrate the House passage of her first bill. HB 2630, which Dr. Snyder helped
write, requires insurance companies to provide an electronic directory of all
healthcare providers’ in-network status. The bill passed the House with bipartisan
support and was sent to Senate Business & Commerce Committee.
16 Dallas Medical Journal June 2019
In talking with Rep. Toni Rose (D-Dallas), First
Tuesday first-timer Amy Motamed, DO, found they
had much in common in their desire to improve the
health care of people with mental illness.
Taking a break from House business, Rep. Morgan Meyer (R-Dallas) meets with
Drs. Debbie Fuller (making pony ears in honor of the mustangs of SMU, from which
Meyer also graduated), Bob Gross, Amy Motamed, Steven Hays, and Les Secrest.
Rick Snyder, MD, talks with a staffer of Rep.
Jessica Gonzalez (D-Dallas), who is finishing her
first session.
Patient Advocacy at its Best