WASHINGTON, DC – We’ve had great reports from HME providers who are making the effort to get face-to-face meetings with members of Congress and their staffers at home during the August recess period. I’m confident that these activities will help us move the ball forward on important binding bid and audit reform legislation in the coming months. For those of you who haven’t been able to get these back-home meetings, or if you want to follow up with additional members of your state’s delegation, there’s a fresh opportunity to come to Washington next month for a legislative fly-in to support H.R. 4920 and H.R. 5083.
The MED Group is putting out the call for HME providers and stakeholders to come to Washington to lobby for these issues on September 9-10, and AAHomecare is excited to lend their support to this effort by helping spread the word, and managing the appointment process, much in the fashion of our annual Washington legislative conferences.
You can find out more details on the event here, and see The MED Group’s announcement, as well. You must call the MED Group at 800-825-5633 to register. Capitol Hill meetings will run from 9:30 to 4:30 pm on Wednesday, Sept. 10, and The MED Group (Booth #1431 at the Oct 20-23 Medtrade, by the way) will provide materials and pre-meeting guidance on the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 9.
We fully appreciate the sacrifice and expense involved in coming to Washington for these events, but these efforts truly make a difference in getting legislative attention for our issues. I know from recent discussions that we’ve had with key Capitol Hill audiences that there is genuine interest in finally applying common-sense solutions to some of the most damaging aspects of the competitive bidding program and the current audit regime.
Your tireless advocacy for HME legislative priorities – through back home meetings, through calls and letters to Capitol Hill, and in demonstrating your commitment to these issues by coming to Washington – will ultimately be what makes the difference in getting these bills passed and enacted into law. I look forward to seeing you in DC next month.
Tom Ryan is president and CEO of the American Association for Homecare.