In my opinion, the recently completed Washington, DC Legislative Fly-In, sponsored by the American Association for Homecare, was a success. I spoke with several colleagues who made the sacrifice of time and expense to travel to DC to fight for their business. But I didn’t see you there.

We had representation from the Midwest, the far West; we even had representation from Hawaii! There were small providers who were spending valuable time away from their companies to meet with their elected Congressmen and Senators. They brought their passion, and they are trying to make a difference.  I am willing to bet every meeting on The Hill those few days had an impact on our industry’s concerns.

What problem do I have with all this, you might ask? My answer would be that there are simply too few of us fighting this battle. At a critical time like this, I would expect every one of you to be fighting for the livelihood of your business, but I did not see you there.

The staff of AAHomecare, the executive committee, board, councils, and committees are making significant strides in the battles being waged. State associations are likewise doing a great job of attempting to enlist more of you to help wage these battles. This is an election year, and if we create a groundswell of support across the country for our concerns, we can have a significant impact on concerns about competitive bidding, capped rental (forced purchase) of oxygen, gap filling, and more. So, where are you?

We are doing a credible job of driving support for the Hobson-Tanner Bill (HR 3559), which contains critical provisions that would help small companies and rural providers survive the forthcoming selective contracting (oh, sorry, competitive bidding) fiasco. I am guessing that would be beneficial to you. If you were part of this effort, I am betting we would have more than 200 cosponsors by now, but I did not see you there.

We heard from Congressman Joe Schwarz (R-Mich), a physician who introduced HR 5513. Referred to as the Home Oxygen Patient Protection Act, this bill would amend the forced ownership (capped rental) provision of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. This means the provi-sion to cap oxygen at 36 months would be removed. I am guessing this would be important to many of you as well.

We lobbied for legislators to sign on in support of HR 5513 as well. We could, and should, be highly motivated to get either of these bills to the floor and voted on long before the provisions they address can harm our industry and jeopardize access to services and support for all Medicare beneficiaries. But I did not see you there.

I hear the common argument that you can’t afford the investment to belong to your national association, or to travel to Washington to attend the Legislative Fly-In. I would argue that this might be the best single investment you can make to ensure the survival of your business. Oh sure, you probably go to the Medtrade shows, but our legislators are not there.

The time to fight is now. Pick up the phone and call AAHomecare at (703) 836-6263, or go to the Web site at www.aahomecare.org and join today. Find out how to get your legislative materials so you can contact your congressional office.

If we had 90% of you joining the battle like the hospitals and physicians do, we could be a force to be reckoned with. No one cares more about your business than you, right? When CMS implemented an aggressive prospective payment model for home health agencies a few years ago, 30% to 40% of the HHAs disapproved in several parts of the country. I think CMS would like to see the same thing happen to HME providers.

The next time you think about how tough it is to remain profitable and grow your business, I hope you will be angry enough to join the fight. Otherwise, the next time we get together in Washington to continue our fight for home care, I may not have to wonder where you are. DP

Tim Pontius, RRT, is president of TDP Management LLC, Toledo, Ohio. He is the immediate past chairman of the American Association for Homecare and can be reached via e-mail: pontius@hmeiv.com.

Note: Regular Legislative Watch columnist Ann Howard will return next month.