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Washington DC Recap

Published on 02/17/09 10:14AM by Gary Sheehan

On February 11 I flew to DC to meet with representatives of our elected officials and further discuss current legislative initiatives as well as recap some of the already enacted legislation and the affect it was having on the industry as a whole.  This effort was a part of the AAHomecare fly-in, and there were roughly 200 other attendees in DC for the day - though I was the only representative from MA.

It was a busy day for me, but an exciting trip;

3:30am - Wake-up, shower, marvel at how early it is, head off to Logan Airport

6:15am - Depart Logan - American Airlines was great, paid for the trip using miles!

8am - Arrive at Reagan Airport (DCA), grab a cab to head to Hilton in Crystal City, VA to attend AAHomecare meetings

9:15 - Depart hotel head for Capitol Hill to attend Small Business Hearings, Rayburn building (Congressional Offices) was a mob scene, as the Wall Street CEO's are in town to testify to Congress, as well as the Peanut Corporation of America...lot of protestors and media around, mostly for the financial services hearing with the Wall Streeters - I see Jesse Jackson while waiting in line, he creates a circus while going in.

10a - Small Business Committee Hearing on the Impact of Competitive Bidding begins; Chairman Heath Shuler presides over an animated, sometimes contentious hearing, in front of a packed house.  Some very poignant questions for CMS officials and some great testimony from providers and industry representatives.  I have to leave early to get to my first meeting.

12 - Meeting with the office of Congressman Michael Capuano (MA, D-8th)

1 - Meeting with the office of Congressman Bill Delahunt (MA, D-10th)

1:30 - Meeting with the office of Congressman Barney Frank (MA, D-4th)

2:15 - Bit of a break as I walk across Capitol Hill to the Senate side of the Hill.  Meetings went very well with all representatives to this point; some of the folks are more familiar than others with what we do and all had some great questions, particularly about the logic behind the 36 month cap on oxygen reimbursement.  Take a few pictures of the Capitol, Federal Reserve Building and the Supreme Court; the collection of buildings here is truly inspiring, in such close proximity.  This is clearly a business trip, but the enormity of US History you are surrounded with when on Capitol Hill never escapes me...it's very powerful.

3p - Meet with Senatory Kennedy's representative in the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) office.

3:30 - Meeting with Senatory Kerry's Office

4:30 - Grab a cab to the airport

6:15 - Flight home

7:30 - Land back at Logan and am home to my family before 9p

It as a very long and busy day but a lot was accomplished and I feel the trip had some benefit.  We need to continue, as an industry, to do a better job making our voices heard and advocating for our patients in Washington...there are some tremendously powerful lobbyists within the healthcare sector (not us, unfortunately) and we have to be diligent to make sure our message isn't crowded out.  We must also do a better job ridding the industry of marginal and especially fraudulent providers; the issue of fraud continues to come up in conversation when we talk about what we do, essentially because of some bad actors in other parts of the country.  But until we get better policing from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and begin getting rid of these folks, it will continue to be a problem.

Washington is an interesting town, full of intrigue and history...going there to discuss what we do is an intricate part of our business strategy and I am confident that eventually the message will get through - homecare is critical to containing overall costs in healthcare, and DME, as the slowest growing sub-sector in the Medicare program, is not the villain we have been made out to be - we are a sector full of passion and pride and made up of largely small businesses, who are dedicated to improving their communities, and thus the country, through great service. 

I'll be going back in June for more of the same - I hope there is some specific legislation by then that we can discuss, but absent that I will continue to talk about the societal benefits of homecare and the power of what our people do.