Drs. Uppington, Nielsen, and Bevins (pictured) attended the 40th annual California Medical Association (CMA) legislative leadership conference at the state capitol on April 22, 2014.  Representatives from nearly every county in the state were in attendance, and many sub-speciality specific delegations were represented as well.  Our residency program's representatives were there as part of the California Society of Anesthesiologists (CSA).  Primary issues for the CMA this legislative session include combating the proposed initiative by the trial lawyers association to ammend MICRA (and thereby drastically increase limits on punitive damages in medical malpractice cases), Increasing physician reimbursement from MediCal following recent cuts, and increasing funding for residency training positions in California.  The CSA delegates also spent some time at the capitol educating lawmakers about the importance of physician anesthesiologist leadership in perioperative care as an indispensable factor in patient safety, as well as addressing concerns for the growing demand for anesthetic care with the implementation of the Afforable Care Act in a setting of limited resources.  For more information on the above legislative lobbying efforts, please visit www.csahq.org and www.cmanet.org.