Beating the Drum

Imagine more than 300 dedicated home care providers representing all 50 states gathering in Washington, D.C., uniting with one strong voice, promoting the value of home care and advocating key issues that affect providers each and every day.

This was the congressional Lobby Day during AAHomecare’s 2005 Washington Leadership Conference last month. It was simply inspiring to join these troops, marching together for home care on Capitol Hill.

The conference connected participating home care providers with members of Congress and their staffs in a unique relationship-building opportunity. In the words of AAHomecare’s incoming chairman Tom Ryan, “If you are not participating in your state and national associations, contributing to a [political action committee] or being involved in what your government is doing, you have the wrong priorities.”

This message is blunt but true. Doubly important is the need to speak with one unified voice to achieve results and effect changes in home care policies.

Conference participants delivered several key “asks” to members of Congress during approximately 200 meetings on the Hill. For example, Sen. Rick Santorum met with more than 30 passionate Pennsylvania AAHomecare members. The senator, who serves in the Republican leadership and sits on the powerful U.S. Senate Finance Committee, which influences health care legislation, reinforced his commitment to home care providers and the patients they serve in Pennsylvania.

During another Hill visit, the Kansas delegation had no sooner stepped into Sen. Pat Roberts’ office than he asked Michael Leib of Advanced Homecare to sit behind his desk. Onlooker Heidi Thometz of Computers Unlimited said of her first lobbying experience, “This is my new goal in life — to have my member of Congress invite me to sit in his chair.” Other participants in the meeting, including Velma Goertzen of Health-E-Quip and Sandra London-Leib of Advanced Homecare, talked with Sen. Roberts as close friends, as the senator recalled having similar home care conversations with them 10 and 20 years ago.

At the end of the meeting, the senator responded to AAHomecare’s requests with the following words: “I sit on the Senate HELP Committee [Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions]. I will tote your bucket, and hopefully I won’t spill a drop.”

Later that evening, the senator dropped in to mingle with our delegates during our congressional reception. This is an example of the constituent relationships we should build with all of our senators and representatives.

During the reception, Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln, one of AAHomecare’s “Legislators of the Year,” reinforced that the investment we make with our pilgrimages to the Hill are worth the sore feet, as we take time from our businesses and patients to elevate our issues in Congress.

Arkansas Rep. Mike Ross, delivering a keynote address at the conference the following day, was amazed at how many attendees saw their congressional members face-to-face. Rep. Ross, the only home care provider in Congress, emphasized that we must be proactive in cultivating and educating members about home care, especially considering that Medicare legislation may come up early next year.

According to Rep. Ross, there is no better way to educate elected officials than to have them see what you do. He advised providers to invite each of their elected representatives to their businesses and have them ride in a delivery truck or accompany a home health nurse to a patient’s home.

We must keep in mind that lobbying is not a one-shot, one-time effort. A relationship with any partner takes time and effort, and Congress is no different. If your member of Congress doesn’t know you, how can he or she fight for you and the patients you serve?

Home care brings a great deal of service and contribution to communities throughout the nation. Elected officials reflect the communities they serve; let’s be sure that they reflect the value of home care.

Kay Cox is president and CEO of the American Association for Homecare, Alexandria, Va. For more information about AAHomecare, visit www.aahomecare.org, or call 703/836-6263.