Lena Lindahl llindahl@medpubs.com

With so many of the industry’s resources now focused on defeating competitive bidding, it is easy to get the message that you should lobby your congressional representatives, but did you ever consider what a privilege it is that we have the right to do so? I hadn’t until someone much wiser and smarter reminded me.

Alan P. Kirk, RCP, education director for the Illinois Association for Medical Equipment Services (IAMES) and co-owner of Total Home Health Inc in Elgin, Ill, made a trip to Washington, DC, with other IAMES members last month, and he returned eager to share his experience.

It was not Kirk’s first trip to DC, but he had not lost his appreciation for how important and yes, how fun it is to wander Capitol Hill marveling at the buildings, the history, and the privilege of being able to stop by any legislator’s office to speak about whatever you wanted.

“I love to go,” Kirk says. “It makes me very proud to be an American. We are probably one of the few countries in the world where you can walk down the hallways of the Senate and House office building with all of your elected officials there at hand. Sure you have to go through a security checkpoint, but no one gets questioned otherwise. Anybody can roam around these hallways and basically walk right up to these offices.”
Kirk is right. We are so lucky, as Americans, to have such free access to our elected officials. Yet few of us take advantage of this fact. Too often getting involved in politics looks like a chore rather than something we are entitled to as taxpayers.

The IAMES Washington trip participants (from left): Alan P. Kirk, RCP, IAMES education director and co-owner of Total Home Health Inc, Elgin, Ill; Dave Doubek, IAMES secretary and co-owner of Doubek Medical Supply, Alsip, Ill; and Maureen and Bob Lake, IAMES members and owners of Lake Medical Supply, Palos Heights, Ill.

Our government was created to serve its citizens. In return, we support it with our tax dollars. Therefore, not participating in government is like paying for an expensive service that you never use.

In this issue we present an “Our Turn” column where authors Cara Bachenheimer, JD, and David Williams stress the importance of getting behind our friends in Washington, DC, and turning them into true believers in home health care. One such person, Bachenheimer and Williams say, is Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and by stopping by Grassley’s office to thank him and his staff for their efforts to remove competitive bidding from the Medicare bill, Kirk and his colleagues on the trip may have done much to help shore up Grassley’s support.

Are you doing your part, or are you paying for a service (government) that you do not use? There are free resources available on the American Association for Homecare Web site at www.aahomecare.org to help you get started.

Finally, I want to wish each of you a very happy holiday season and thank you for your support of this publication. Enclosed with this issue you will find a small holiday gift, a calendar, from the team here at Dealer/Provider. We hope you enjoy it and best wishes for a great 2004.