More than half of U.S. states have an HME advocate assigned to every lawmaker in those states, says CAMES Pres. Doug Coleman. However, providers in the rest of the states have a ways to go before the industry’s “accountability” project achieves full coverage.
The goal of the project is to ensure there is a dedicated industry contact for every member of Congress. These contacts establish relationships with their assigned Congressional contact; lobby for their support of HME legislation; help set up meetings with providers and other stakeholders; and work to educate members of Congress and their staff on industry issues.
The effort is critical in advancing industry legislation, such as H.R. 4229, for which the industry is currently trying to gain additional co-sponsors.
“We need your help,” said Coleman, who is the owner of Major Medical, while speaking to attendees of this week’s VGM Heartland event in Waterloo Iowa. “If we don’t have you guys don’t the frontline work, then we can’t be successful in Washington.”
“This is something we’ve used,” Jay Witter, senior vice president of Public Affairs for the American Association for Homecare, noted during the Heartland presentation. “Even if your area is covered and you want to be part of this effort, it’s not as though it is limited to one person.”
How to Help:
For providers wishing to help, they can check the latest spreadsheet of contacts from AAHomecare to see if their district is covered. If their district Representative or Senator does not have an assigned contact, or they want to offer their support as a secondary contact, they should contact AAHomecare’s Ashley Plauche at ashleyp@aahomecare.org to sign up. An overview of the project and list of contact duties is available as a PDF.