Politics Are Local, Conference Proves

Washington

As they gulped down coffee at 7:30 a.m. June 3, in a hotel conference room located just a few blocks from Capitol Hill, 200 home care stakeholders from 39 states learned what lobbying experts have been saying for decades: even in Washington, politics are local.

“The worst thing you can do is sound like a lobbyist,” Christopher Kush of Soapbox Consulting told attendees at the American Association for Homecare’s Washington Legislative Conference. “Make them care in their guts, not in their heads. Tell them what these [home care] issues mean locally, for your business and patients.”

Before sending the attendees off to a full day of meetings with their federal representatives, Kush urged home care providers and manufacturers to put a local, personal face on the industry’s primary legislative concerns: competitive bidding, a 10 percent rural add-on for home health providers, home health copayments and a market basket update for home health.

Later that morning, when conference attendees descended on Senate and House office buildings, keeping 198 appointments with their local representatives, many lawmakers commented on the timeliness of the lobbying push. Both houses of Congress were set to debate Medicare prescription-drug legislation before the July 4 recess, and the question of how to fund such a benefit was foremost on committee leaders’ minds.

One of the states with the strongest Legislative Conference showings was New York, from whence 13 people representing providers, manufacturers, associations and buying groups traveled to bring lawmakers the home care message. “We build relationships with beneficiaries, and we win patients based on our services,” Don White, president of Associated Healthcare Services, told Sen. Hillary Clinton’s legislative aide. Under competitive bidding, “[the contract winners] wouldn’t have to provide the same level of service, because they would have an exclusive contract. The biggest losers would be the beneficiaries.”

AAHomecare members from Georgia, which sent eight industry representatives to the Hill, echoed the message in the office of Sen. Saxby Chambliss. “The best place for patients to get the high-quality, low-cost care they need is in the home,” Joe Sansone, president and chief executive officer of Pediatric Services of America, told Chambliss’ legislative assistant. “We’re concerned about competitive bidding, because it’s not only a small-business issue but an access-to-care issue.”

Amid the columns and statues of Capitol Hill, lawmakers’ offices reflected themes of local — rather than federal — politics, conference attendees observed. Sen. Clinton’s office housed a shelf containing brochures about New York tourism, and the group from Georgia found bowls of state-grown peanuts in the offices of Sen. Chambliss and Rep. Nathan Deal.

Conference attendees also elected AAHomecare officers, including Chairman Joel Mills, Advanced Home Care; Vice Chairman Timothy Pontius, Young Medical Services; Treasurer Lawrence Higby, Apria Healthcare Group; and Secretary Bob Cucuel, Air Products Healthcare. Re-elected directors-at-large include Todd Christopher, Home Care Supply; Paul Gabos, Lincare Holdings; James Liken, Respironics; and Thomas Ryan, Homecare Concepts. Newly elected directors-at-large include April Mason of Lifeplus and Al Sorensen of Interim HealthCare.

For breaking news, go to www.homecaremonday.com, the electronic news service of the home medical equipment industry.