Pelosi, Boehner among recipients of AMA government service awards

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and former House Speaker John Boehner were among those honored last night as recipients of the 2016 Dr. Nathan Davis Award for Outstanding Government Service by the American Medical Association (AMA). The awards were presented as part of the AMA National Advocacy Conference in Washington, D.C.

Stephen R. Permut, MD, AMA board chair, praised Pelosi’s hard work in a prepared statement.

“Americans have benefitted from Leader Pelosi’s focus on health care during her time in Congress, and this was notably evident during the drive to repeal Medicare’s flawed physician payment formula,” Permut sad. “Working with the AMA, Leader Pelosi ensured that the repeal was a bipartisan effort that attracted the overwhelming support of the Democratic caucus.”

Pelosi posted on social media about the award, saying on Twitter she was looking forward to working more on public health issues.

Permut remembered that same bipartisan effort when celebrating Boehner’s own contributions in another statement.

“The AMA is proud to recognize Speaker Boehner’s timely and invaluable service in improving health care,” Permut said. “Speaker Boehner cobbled together a rare bipartisan coalition that resulted in the permanent repeal of Medicare’s flawed physician payment formula, an impediment to health care, and left his successors a much improved budgeting and health care landscape.”

The AMA has been recognizing officials in federal, state, and municipal service with the Dr. Nathan Davis Award for Outstanding Government Service since 1989. It was named after the AMA’s founder.

“For more than a quarter century of the Nathan Davis Awards, the AMA has sought to salute government officials who go above and beyond the call of duty to improve public health,” Permut said in the AMA statements. “Award winners have come from every branch of government service and confirm the important role public officials can have creating and implementing health policies that benefit Americans.”

This year’s other recipients of the award were Pennsylvania state representative Gene DiGirolamo; West Virginia state senator Ron Stollings, MD; Karen Midthun, MD; retired Lieutenant General Thomas W. Travis, MD; Mary Currier, MD; and Dileep G. Bal, MD.

More information about the awards, including past winners and a form for nominating someone as a possible recipient, can be found on the AMA’s website.