Providers Pressure Congress at AAHomecare Legislative Fly-In

July 1, 2007

The American Association for Homecare reported a successful showing at the Washington Legislative Conference June 5-7. More than 225 home care providers, patients and stakeholders attended.

"We estimated it was, all total, 300 meetings with congressional offices out of a total of 535 House and Senate offices," said Michael Reinemer, vice president of communications and policy at AAHomecare.

"We had a good program that gave the providers a good sense of what the mood is on the Hill, what the challenges (are), what we're up against in terms of the budget, and some of the issues that would affect our success," Reinemer said. "But the bottom line is how many people sign onto these bills and also how successful we will be in the next few weeks in making sure that cuts to home oxygen are not included in any of the Medicare packages that the House and Senate are considering right now."

After the meeting, approximately 25 new cosponsors had signed on to key oxygen and competitive bidding bills.

Reinemer commended the providers’ enthusiasm and participation. "I think that providers truly understand the threat level that is out there and that every year Congress seems to be tempted to cut home care further and further," he said. "I think there's a core group of people out there who understand that, and they came and they were very enthusiastic and I think very effective in spreading the word on the Hill."