Lessons Learned

As the dust settles on Medicare-reform legislation, it is not too early to examine what we, the home care industry, accomplished this year and where we fell short of the mark. This year’s experience provides us with valuable lessons for 2004.

This year we were more successful than ever in turning members of Congress into not just supporters, but advocates for home care issues. Rep. Dave Hobson, R-Ohio, led the charge in the House of Representatives, boldly declaring to Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., and chairman of the Medicare Conference Committee, that he would vote against the Medicare drug package if it included competitive bidding (In a twist, Hobson eventually voted for the bill). We were also successful in garnering significant support on the Senate side.

What Did We Learn?

We learned that as an industry, we can persuade members of Congress not just to support our cause, but to stand up and make their support heard. Sure, persuading them to do so takes time and resources, but we must do it because no one else will do it for us. If even half of the HME providers in the country communicated regularly with their elected officials, each of the 535 senators and representatives would hear from approximately 15 home care companies. That would make a difference.

We learned that every vote counts in both the House and the Senate. Because Republicans have a slim majority in both chambers, less than a handful of advocates can make a difference in whether the Republicans have enough votes to pass a particular measure.

Too often, we say that our representative or our senator does not sit on the “right” committee. While that may be true, that same representative or senator will vote on particular measures, and that person’s vote is vitally important to his or her party’s leadership. Further, that representative or senator has issues for which he or she needs the support of his or her colleagues. Horse-trading is alive and well in Congress.

We learned that we need to do more. This year our industry performed the best in terms of generating grassroots support, but we need to get more people from our industry involved in this critical activity. When you own or run a business that relies on government funds, you have an obligation to play an active role in your company’s future. Only by educating your elected officials can you expect them to make educated policy decisions that affect your company and the consumers you serve positively. We also need to contribute more generously to the campaigns of the elected officials who help us, or who are in a position to help us.

We learned that we need to engage the consumers we serve in order to increase the volume in Washington on home care issues. Individual consumers can truly speak from the heart to educate members of Congress about our industry and the cost-effective, patient-preferred equipment and services we provide.

Get involved with and actively support your local consumer organizations, as well as the local disease and disorder associations and the local charitable organizations. Make these organizations’ priorities part of your organization’s priorities.

Call to Action

For those of you who did not play an active part in this year’s legislative battle, let this column serve as a call to action. For the many of you who took the time to visit or write your senators and representatives, and for those of you who responded to grassroots alerts, the rest of the industry thanks you for all your hard work. For all of you, never forget that the industry’s demographics and the public preference for home care present great opportunities for smart businesses to make a living and provide a vital service to people with chronic health conditions and disabilities. With this in mind, let us see what we can achieve in 2004.

A specialist in health care legislation, regulations and government relations, Cara C. Bachenheimer is vice president, government relations, for Invacare Corp., Elyria, Ohio. Bachenheimer previously worked at the law firm of Epstein, Becker & Green in Washington, D.C., and at the American Association for Homecare and the Health Industry Distributors Association. You can reach her by phone at 440/329-6226 or by e-mail at [email protected].