07/29/2024

Congressional Calendar Offers Opportunities to Connect with Legislators at Home

Important Message from the American Association for Homecare

Source:  American Association for Homecare Insider - 7/24/24

Both the House and Senate will be out of session for the traditional August recess period – and again for all of October and into early November, where the entire House and approximately one-third of the Senate will be campaigning. Today, we learned that the House has moved up their recess to begin on July 29 (previously slated to start Aug. 5), with the last scheduled votes taking place tomorrow.

HME advocates can take this opportunity to meet their legislators (or new candidates) and make a connection that could help move our policy priorities forward this year or in the future.

Meeting with current House or Senate members (even those not running for re-election) in August or October gives you the chance to ask for their support for securing 75/25 blended rate relief this year.  Even if you only have two minutes of a legislator’s time, you can make these points:

• Talk about how you provide home medical equipment that supports their constituents’ quality of life and helps keep them out of the hospital or nursing facilities.
• Give examples of how your business is being impacted by Medicare cuts for a significant part of your customer base that went into effect on January 1.
• Explain that provisions to restore these rates were stripped from Omnibus legislation in February, and we need them enacted before the end of this Congress. Ask them to contact Leadership to prioritize 75/25 relief and include it in any appropriate legislative packages. For House members, you can add that legislation extending the relief was approved by the Energy & Commerce Committee in December of 2023.
• Ask who you can follow up with on their staff to make sure you have all the appropriate information. This gives you a chance to develop a very effective follow-up call or email to staff that builds on the fact that the legislator asked you to contract them on this issue.

We hope you’ll consider taking advantage of the unique opportunity that campaign season provides to make a face-to-face connection that could help secure significant bottom-line relief for HME. If you’ve never attended a campaign event or met with your Representative or Senator in their home district/state, this is the year to make that happen!

If you have a chance to meet with a Member of Congress this campaign season, we can provide additional guidance and support. Contact Gordon Barnes at gordonb@aahomecare.org for more information.