Observation Deck

The Business of Politics

Why HME suppliers should have a grassroots GL expense account.

• By Wayne Stanfield
• May 01, 2010

There are many myths surrounding what effect any one small independent supplier owner can have on the direction of political thinking. Just recently, a supplier in California called 15 other local suppliers asking them to call their member of Congress asking those lawmakers to support H.R. 3790, the bill introduced by Rep. Kendrick Meek (D.-Fla.) that calls for the repeal of CMS’s competitive bidding program. The calls were an effort to build more cosponsors, but all 15 of the provider’s peers declined. The reasons given ranthe usual gauntlet of myths:

• “I’m too small.”
• “They won’t listen to me.”
• “I don’t know what to say.”
• “My voice doesn’t matter.”
• “I’m afraid to talk to them.”
• “Someone else will fix it.”
• “I don’t know much about competitive bidding.”

The stark reality is that all of these answers are dead wrong. Despite what is often viewed as national apathy towards politics, one single voice can make the difference. Just as one vote can change an election outcome, one provider can sway the position of a politician on an issue.

Myth vs. Reality

One major reason that small businesses view these myths as real is that they simply don’t see politics as part of their business plan. Ask any large business owner about political involvement and you will get a long list of reasons why getting involved in political action efforts are critical to their business success and longevity. What the small business man overlooks is that both of these individuals are the same, they are one person, making one call. The fact that one owner has five branch locations and $10 million in revenue, and the other has one location with $750,000 doesn’t matter to the politician. It’s the fact that they both call asking for help with the same issue that resonates.

The only real difference is that the larger company owner realizes the value in being involved in politics, and the small business owner is apprehensive about how he or she can help. If you put both owners in a room and ask each what keeps them up at night, they will likely give you the same answer, and both can express their concerns with passion.

Over the past three years, The National Association of Independent Medical Equipment Suppliers has worked towards the goal of getting small DME business owners involved, and it has been hard to do. All of our efforts have focused on getting more people involved in their local district where they might just be the big fish in a little pond, or at least on an even footing with their local business owner peers.

We at NAIMES have preached about “digging your well before you’re thirsty,” a concept of building relationships before you ask for help. This message has resonated well, but it needs to reach a much broader audience if we are to have political power in the DME industry.

The work of going to Washington to lobby your legislators has value, but the true power of each individual is at home where it is easier to reach your members of Congress and much less intimidating. This is why providers much treat politics as a business expense. We know that only individuals can contribute personal money to candidates, but company funds can still be used to help you get involved. Suppliers’ budgets fund, hire people, and pay the expenses to market their products and services to their referral sources and customers, so why wouldn’t an HME do the same thing to market its value, quality, ethics, and integrity to politicians?

We all know that much of the grief we get from Congress and government agencies is because they don’t understand who we are and what we do. We can change that thinking, but it has to start with selling yourself to three people: your Representative and two Senators. To do that you could treat “grassroots” as an expense item in your general ledger and budget funds to “market” your business and your industry to the people who control your destiny by the decisions they make.

It should anger you to know that there are entities who are selling the merits of competitive bidding and the 36-month oxygen cap to Congress. Some of these might be your competitors, but most are other government bureaucrats who still think we leave a piece of medical equipment on the porch and never have to see the patient again. They tell Congress how fraudulent we are and how grossly overpaid we are when we know better.

So here’s the challenge for all small suppliers in the DME industry who think they can’t make a difference: I want you to budget money to create a marketing program for your legislators. Create a “grassroots” line item in your GL and allocate money to “sell” how good and how valuable you are, and above all how ethical you are. This includes travel to meet your legislators, talking papers and information packs selling the DME industry. It includes phone and fax costs to send you positions to their offices. It includes allocating time to attend every town hall meeting and public event in your district. It includes covering the cost of your management employees also attending these events. It includes the time and costs to have every employee make calls to Congress when asked by your state and national trade associations.

Political action is no different from making a cold call to a new physician asking for referrals, except you are asking your elected official to make good decisions and support or oppose laws affecting your future. I suggest that this money may be the best investment you have ever made towards your business success, and it is likely to not only prove to be easier than you thought, but fun as well. The other option is not so fun: If the thousands of small suppliers don’t overcome these myths and get involved, the direction of the DME industry will not change.

This article originally appeared in the May 2010 issue of HME Business.