09/26/2019

New Dear Colleague Letter Released to Spur Support for Rural Relief Legislation

Reach Out to Your Legislators Today!

Reps. Cathy McMorris Rogers (R-Wash.) and Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa) have sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to their House of Representatives peers urging them to co-sponsor H.R. 2771, the Protecting Home Oxygen and Medical Equipment Act of 2019.

The letter points out that the measure of relief provided by CMS last year was due to the high level of Congressional support for H.R. 4229 in the previous congressional session.  It goes on to note that H.R. 2771 “is similar to H.R. 4229 in the 115th Congress, but has been streamlined and is more focused because of the relief that has been provided by CMS.”

This letter can be another tool to use in outreach to your Representatives to co-sponsor H.R. 2771 – and it should be especially helpful in efforts to recruit members who co-sponsored H.R. 4229.   As we noted in last week’s Wednesday in Washington , from AAHomecare, there are more than 80 Representatives who signed on to H.R. 4229 who are not yet co-sponsors for H.R. 2771.  The complete list of those legislators can be found here.

The lead sponsors for H.R. 2771 are redoubling their efforts to build support for this bill, which would provide long-term relief for both rural and other non-bid area suppliers.  Additionally, the bill addresses an outdated budget neutrality offset from the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 which has the effect of reducing oxygen reimbursements in rural communities even further below rates for suppliers in urban areas.  Let’s help Reps. McMorris Rodgers and Loebsack grow the co-sponsor rolls for this important legislation!

Related resources: 

• Dear Colleague letter
• Current HR 2771 co-sponsor list
• HR 4229 co-sponsors not yet on HR 2771
• Issue Brief
• Maps showing CBAs and Rural/Regional areas by state
• Urge your colleagues and peers to use our Action Center to send a letter in support of HR 2771 with suggested messaging already in place.

Contact Gordon Barnes at gordonb@aahomecare.org or Kam Yuricich at kam@oames.org for help finding contact information of healthcare staffers for your Representative or additional assistance.