MED to Offer Lobbying Lessons

LUBBOCK, Texas — Confronted with growing threats to their
livelihood and their clients’ health, home medical equipment
providers are facing the need to lobby state and federal officials
on behalf of HME. The question is, how to do it?

To answer that question, The MED Group is planning a series of
webinars dedicated to providing tools for HME providers to use in
lobbying their legislators. The member services group is still
working out the dates and times for the sessions, but they will be
open to all providers, not just MED members, and they will be free,
said Wayne Grau, vice president, supplier relations and government
affairs.

He said MED is working on the webinars with the American
Association for Homecare, NCART and state associations, each of
which has increasingly called on its members to advocate on
industry issues. While there has been an “uptick” in participation
on the lobbying level among providers in the industry, Grau said,
there remains a lot of apprehension, as well.

“I think there is this view out there that lobbying is a very
difficult thing to do and if you don’t do it right, you’ll somehow
be in trouble. But it’s not,” said Grau. “It’s just telling your
story, and, for the most part, legislators want to hear
it

Grau urged all providers to take part in the upcoming series of
three webinars, which are expected to be held at the end of this
month or early in March. “We call it demystifying lobbying. We’ll
remove the mystery. It’s not a huge amount of time, it’s not that
hard. And it’s not that costly.”

Grau said the webinars grew out of a sense that, while there
have been constant calls from industry organizations for providers
to lobby on behalf of HME, the majority of providers are nervous
about doing so.

“We saw a gap not in information but in implementation,” he
said.

MED surveyed its members about possible webinars on the topic of
lobbying. “I’ve never before seen a 100 percent positive response,
but this was it,” said Grau. “This is not a MED Group issue, this
is an industry issue.”

The time is long gone when providers could immerse themselves in
their businesses without a thought about talking to a legislator,
he said. With DMEPOS
competitive bidding, the 36-month oxygen rental cap and
elimination of the first-month purchase option for power
wheelchairs either in play or looming, it is imperative for
providers to champion their own cause.

“My goal is to make people know that this has got to be part of
their business practices,” Grau said. “We don’t have 500 lobbyists
on the Hill, so we have to be that voice. We have to stand up and
say [to legislators], ‘You’re not getting it. Let me explain it to
you.’

“We have to do it ourselves and we also have to run our
companies, and sometimes, we can’t do both. So we are going to show
a quick and easy way of doing it,” he continued.

The webinars will largely be taught by other providers who have
learned the lobbying ropes, said Grau. An example, he said, is
successful provider-lobbyist Jim Greatorex of Portland, Maine’s
Black Bear Medical.

“Jim Greatorex has developed a great relationship [with his
legislators],” Grau said, noting that legislators now seek
Greatorex out for advice on pertinent legislation. “He has moved
from being a constituent to being a trusted advisor. And there are
more examples of that out there.”

“This is not a theory course; it is about practical things to
do,” Grau said. “You have to know what works.

“The more people we can get comfortable with the process, the
better for the industry … If we could get every provider to
take just two hours a month [to lobby for the industry], we could
definitely make a difference.”