Critical Period for Rural Relief Legislation

Via AAHomecare, WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 22, 2018)—Champions on Capitol Hill remain highly engaged in efforts to roll back bidding-derived Medicare reimbursement cuts in rural/non-bid areas and to address the “double dip” cuts for oxygen in rural areas. With potential omnibus spending legislation expected in late March as a possible vehicle for language from H.R. 4229, it’s critical that we continue to engage Capitol Hill to support these priorities—especially over the next three weeks.

Data on Rural/Non-bid Area Congressional District Demographics Now Available
AAHomecare has developed a spreadsheet that pulls together actions that members of the House of Representatives have taken on behalf of HME issues since 2016, along with their rural and non-CB area population figures for their Congressional districts. The actions noted include:

• Co-sponsoring H.R. 4229
• Signing the June 2017 letter to CMS/HHS supporting selected HME public policy priorities, including relief for rural/non-CB areas
• Signing the September 2017 letter to OMB asking them to release the HME-related IFR
• Co-sponsoring H.R. 5210 in the 114th Congress
• The data includes the percentages of individuals in strictly rural areas (Column S, percent rural to total pop.) and in rural + other non-CB areas (Column U, percent rural and non-rural to total pop.) as a share of overall district population.

You can use this data to help target lawmakers representing a large share of constituents in rural and non-CB areas and to make the case that the provisions in H.R. 4229 and the IFR are relevant to their districts. You can find the spreadsheet here.

With 141 Congressional districts showing more than a 50 percent rural/non-CB population (and only 74 legislators representing those districts currently co-sponsoring H.R. 4229), there’s certainly ample opportunity to advocate to representatives who should be supporting rural relief efforts.

H.R. 4229 Co-Sponsorship Edges Past H.R. 52
With Rep. Earl Perlmutter (D-Colo.) coming on board as the 122nd co-sponsor for H.R. 4229 yesterday, the bill passes the 121 co-sponsors for H.R. 5210, rural relief legislation proposed in the 114th Congress. H.R. 4229 also enjoys slightly more bipartisan support, with 22 percent of its supporters coming from the Democratic side of the aisle, compared to 16 percent for H.R. 5210.

Visit aahomecare.org for more information.