Monthly Archive

At the end of this week, Congress will recess for the month of August. They have left several issues unresolved that give us an extraordinary opportunity in housing, but that also pose grave risks for nursing homes and home health agencies. The legislators may be coming home for the month, but we cannot let them rest. We have to challenge them to do the right thing for the right reasons so that when September comes, legislation will be finalized to meet the housing and long-term care needs of this country’s elders. Otherwise, irresponsible measures may be locked into place that would do serious harm to your ability to continue providing the highest quality care and services.

Your advocacy will make the critical difference to our success on issues that matter to you, your staff, your organizations and, most importantly, those you serve. We must take every opportunity and use every means of communication to explain to your legislators how their decisions will affect their elderly constituents and the people who care for them.

That’s why I’m inviting you to join us in AAHSA’s “August Flood.” There are four ways you can help during this month:

1. Flood Your Legislators’ Offices in Washington With Calls and Letters.
Tomorrow, AAHSA will sponsor a “Capitol Hill Call-in Day” on behalf of H.R. 2930, Section 202 improvement legislation that we have finally gotten introduced. The bill streamlines financing for new projects and addresses several of the problems you have encountered in trying to preserve existing affordable housing for seniors. Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to your House member’s office. Tell your legislators and their staff about how critical this measure is to the thousands of low-income seniors who cannot find affordable housing that meets their needs. Then, ask them to co-sponsor the bill so that it can move to the House floor.

Also this week, the House is voting on H.R. 3162, a bill that contains a Medicare payment freeze for long-term care providers in 2008. CMS estimated that your costs will increase by 3.3 percent for nursing homes and by 2.9 percent for home health agencies over the next year. Please contact your House members this week to urge that the payment freeze be removed from the bill. If this doesn’t happen (and we will let you know), please contact your House members and senators during the month of August to ask that the payment freeze be removed from the final version of the legislation.

2. Flood their District Offices With Appointments.
Don’t let your legislators forget who elects them. Set up a time to meet with him or her to put a name and face on the legislation they are considering. This includes the final version of the payment freeze legislation and S. 1710, a Senate spending bill that would continue the substantial user fee for regulatory agencies’ revisits to your facility. These fees would have to be paid regardless of whether the deficiencies are overturned on appeal. Urge your Senators to remove these provisions from the bill.

3. Flood AAHSA’s Contact Congress Web site.
Can’t make into the office? Our Contact Congress Web site lets you connect with members of Congress with the click of a mouse. Send a letter, find out more about the issues and learn how your legislators are voting on issues affecting your work.

4. Flood them With Thanks.
Your legislators are our allies in creating the right public policies for the right reasons. Don’t forget to thank them, and their staff, for their support and attention.

To make a difference, our flood needs leaders. Richard Schwalberg of Beachwood Ohio’s Menorah Park Center for the Aging is a flood leader. He realized the severe impact that dollar caps on Medicare therapy coverage would have on his residents and the hundreds of individuals his organization serves. That’s when he started the flood. He flooded Congressional committee members’ phone lines with calls about the issue. He flooded their schedules with meetings. He even helped more than 600 seniors flood their legislators’ offices with their therapy success stories. And it made a difference. In December, Congress extended the exceptions process for Medicare coverage for another year. How did Richard respond? With a flood of thank yous. He even gave Michelle Spence, a legislative assistant for Sen. John Ensign (R-Wyo.), an award for her hard work.

Richard would be the first to tell you that sometimes it takes a flood to get people’s attention. And for AAHSA’s members, that time is now.

Larry

William L. Minnix, Jr., D.Min.
AAHSA President and CEO