Yesterday
On May 20, the NCAFP brought over 60 members and staff to the North Carolina General Assembly to meet with their lawmakers. During their meetings, NCAFP members stressed the need for increased investment in primary care, called for prior authorization reforms, and explained the need for additional scholarships or loan repayment options for primary care. “White Coat Wednesday gives our members the chance to share their insights and experiences directly to our legislators,” NCAFP Executive Vice President and CEO Greg Griggs said. “Advocacy like this is invaluable as family physicians work to improve their patients’ health outcomes and lower health care costs.”
This group is the largest number of NCAFP members ever to attend a White Coat Wednesday event. 2026 attendance topped the 2025 number, which had been the previous record. Attendees met with their Senators and Representatives across approximately 50 scheduled meetings, and many more had the chance to drop by their lawmakers’ offices. “It’s so important for you to set the first building blocks of what will hopefully be long, good relationships with your legislators,” Raleigh Group VP and NCAFP contract lobbyist Sue Ann Swift told attendees.
Participating NCAFP members began the day with a breakfast briefing, where previous White Coat Wednesday attendees were asked to stand. Over two dozen of the members present stood up. This experienced group helped the first-time attendees but also enjoyed meeting with their lawmakers again.
Dr. Corinna Myers had met with her Mecklenburg County representative, Rep. Laura Budd, at past events but didn’t have a scheduled meeting with her this year. Nonetheless, Rep. Budd saw Dr. Myers in passing and then invited her to come by her office when she had the time. “That was great,” Dr. Myers said. “I first met her during my policy rotation in 2024, and I got to meet with her for White Coat Wednesday the last two years. It was great to see her.”
For other attendees, coming to the General Assembly as first-time visitors was just as great. “It’s my first time,” says third-year Wake Forest University Medical School student and NCAFP Board Student Director-Elect Taylor Ellis. “I’m excited to be here. I’ve actually met Rep. Dr. Tim Reeder and Rep. Dr. Grant Campbell before, and so I’m looking forward to seeing them again — now at their work!”
She joined fellow first-timer Meghana Iragavarapu, a medical student from the Duke University School of Medicine, when she went to visit Rep. Phil Rubin. It was their first-ever legislative visit, but Iragavarapu was confident as a medical student with something to say: “It’s a really exciting time to go into Family Medicine, I think.”
Dr. Matthew Rushing also enjoyed a great first while meeting with Sen. Kandie Smith with other NCAFP members from Pitt and Edgecomb counties. “Sen. Smith wants to visit ECU when we teach our didactics,” Dr. Rushing says. “We’ll get to host her, so that she can see our clinics, residents, and patients. I’m really excited!”
Dozens of members attended the Senate Health Committee hearing on a proposed bill that would regulate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in coding, presented by Sen. Amy Galey. NCAFP President Dr. Benjamin “Frankie” Simmons testified before the committee, explaining that he looks forward to working with legislators on preparing effective, ethical policies for AI use in clinical settings. Dr. Simmons has attended multiple White Coat Wednesday events and even enjoys a personal correspondence with one of his lawmaker’s office staff. “One of the legislative aides has my phone number now, and we have been texting and emailing about laws since 2023,” Dr. Simmons says. He has now testified before the Senate Health Committee, at the Governor’s Mansion, and in other government settings thanks to the relationships he and the NCAFP maintain with state leaders.
Later in the day, Rep. Dr. Tim Reeder and Rep. Dr. Grant Campbell welcomed the entire NCAFP group onto the House floor to explain parts of the legislative process and welcome their questions. The two Representatives are the only physicians currently serving in the General Assembly, and they encouraged NCAFP members to value what they can bring to health care policy as physicians.
“We have stories about everything, thanks to the patients that we see every day,” Rep. Dr. Reeder said. “Those stories resonate here. That can make physicians into good advocates, so long as we come here ready to talk to people we don’t agree with.”
“I can’t emphasize enough how important it is for legislators to see doctors walking through these hallways,” Rep. Dr. Campbell said. “That’s how we know that physicians are closely watching the policies we make here.”
The NCAFP is glad to advocate for Family Medicine with help from Rep. Dr. Reeder and Rep. Dr. Campbell, along with many other Representatives and Senators. NCAFP members (including practicing physicians, residents, and medical students) do invaluable work for their patients and specialty, and the NCAFP continues to support their direct policy advocacy efforts. For example: 10 of the residents who attended White Coat Wednesday were completing the first-ever NCAFP Advocacy and Policy Bootcamp program. This program began May 19 and ended May 22, and it prepared the participating residents to understand and undertake big-picture Family Medicine advocacy in North Carolina and beyond. They learned legislative insights from NCAFP lobbyists from the Raleigh Group, met with their lawmakers during White Coat Wednesday, learned to advocate with NC health care payers, and met with NC Dept. of Health and Human Services Secretary (and NCAFP member) Dr. Devdutta Sangvai to understand the work of state health agencies.
These efforts can provide the expertise of family physicians to crucial health care policy, which is why the NCAFP pursues them. “It’s most helpful when lawmakers can look to the NCAFP community as the physicians who can share wise, practical advice that helps them prepare and pass good health care laws,” NCAFP Senior VP and General Counsel Shawn Parker said.
To the family physicians, residents, and medical students participating, and to the Representatives, Senators, and legislative aides who gave their time to meet with NCAFP members: the NCAFP thanks you for your time and for your ongoing work to improve NC health care policies!
All photos from all the day’s events are available here.
The North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians, Inc. (NCAFP) is a nonprofit professional association headquartered in Raleigh which represents over 4,300 family physicians, family medicine residents, and medical students across the state. It is the largest medical specialty association in North Carolina and is a constituent chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians, based in Leadwood, KS.
