Initiatives

In 2007-2008, during the 110th Congress, the FPA will be working to:

Conduct a survey of federal physicians pay, specialties, locations, etc. and analyze and disseminate the results.

• Assist FPA members converted to NSPS with waiver requests for overpayments of the PCA.

• Collect all federal agency policies, procedures and guidelines on how special pay of federal physicians is determined.

• 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.

• Research and monitor developments on new pay systems, e.g. National Security Personnel System, which may be the model(s) for a federal government pay for performance system.

• 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.

• Develop and maintain an FPA website - www.fedphy.org - that will provide details on actions affecting federal physicians and their careers.

• Meet with Members of Congress and their staffs to discuss issues affecting federal physicians.

• Double the number of members of the Federal Physicians Association.

Accomplishments

For over 20 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.