Get in on Grassroots’ Ground Floor

Join the Save Homecare Now! campaign.

• By Michael Reinemer
• Jan 26, 2011

For decades, the home medical equipment (HME) community has provided reliable and high-quality products and services for the nation’s seniors, people with disabilities, and other at-home patients. But policymakers and the public don’t always know about the critical role HME plays in our healthcare system. Ours is a relatively new healthcare sector, and it’s less visible than doctors, hospitals, and other segments of the continuum of care.
Also, as Congress and the White House deal with pressures to control spending, it’s increasingly important to defend HME against policies that don’t account for the value of homecare and cut reimbursements. And any message for Congress or the media faces enormous competition for the attention, especially in Washington.

A Grassroots Network

So the American Association for Homecare launched the Save Homecare Now! campaign. This campaign is about expanding the universe of constituents who contact policymakers and media about the importance of homecare. This is a prime example of the old adage, “all politics are local.” Members of Congress want to be and need to be responsive to the people they represent. They will be attuned to messages coming from the communities they represent, especially as they relate to the health of their constituents, jobs in these communities, and quality of life.

That’s why this campaign is designed to be a broad grassroots network that extends to everyone touched by homecare:

• HME providers,
• Medicare beneficiaries,
• Caregivers and family members,
• Physicians,
• Respiratory therapists, physical therapists and other clinicians,
• Case managers,
• Hospital discharge planners,
• Senior centers,
• Senior advocacy groups,
• Patient advocacy organizations, and
• Other community organizations.

A national group that advocates policies in Washington must have a strong presence in Washington. But equally important is also support for these policies coming from every congressional district in the U.S. So the messages delivered in Washington must also be voiced back home in the district or state the Representative or Senator hails from.

The Save Homecare Now! Campaign seeks homecare advocates who will act as strong, on-the-ground, grassroots leaders in their communities. These advocates serve as local representatives who spread the word about homecare issues to their personal and professional networks.

This campaign has been developed by AAHomecare along with a Grassroots Task Force consisting of a dedicated group of state HME association executives and Rational 360, AAHomecare’s public affairs consulting firm.

Since the campaign began last year, it has enlisted more than 600 advocates so far who have signed up to be part of the network on the campaign’s CapWiz system and they have sent more than 2,000 messages to Congress, the Administration, and to the media through the system.

Getting Involved

The first step in joining this grassroots effort is signing up for the Save Homecare Now! Alerts at http://capwiz.com/aahomecare/home/. The campaign is a good way to stay up-to-date on what’s happening in HME in Washington and throughout the country.

Many HME providers are already active and effective advocates in their communities. Drawing on their experiences, the Save Homecare Now! campaign suggests a menu of activities to help these advocates succeed in raising awareness locally. Not everyone will want to use the same methods. Some of the choices for getting involved include:

Encourage Your Network to Sign Up to Save Homecare Now! Campaign. Customers, employees, families, and others will benefit from knowing about what is happening with medical equipment that keeps seniors safe and independent at home.

Attend Town Hall Meetings Held by Elected Officials. Make homecare awareness a priority in your community. Go to town hall meetings and spread the word about the value of homecare and also the threats to the home medical equipment benefit.

Host Site Visits for Local Members of Congress and the Media. Invite your Representative and Senators to see what you do and what types of equipment and services your customers depend on. Sometimes seeing is easier than telling. The media is often interested in covering these types of tours. Or you can also host a tour for just for a local television station or newspaper.

Send Letters and Make Phone Calls to Congress. Members of Congress represent you and your network – their constituents. Tell members of Congress and their staff what you think, why homecare is important, and what they can do to save homecare.

Introduce Yourself and Your HME Community to New Members of Congress. With more than 100 new faces in the U.S. House and Senate, now is the time to reach out to new members, tell them about HME and put our industry on their agenda.

Use Social Media to Spread the Word. Join HME advocacy groups on Facebook and Twitter to expand awareness about issues. For instance, AAHomecare has a page on Facebook, www.facebook.com/aahomecare and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/aahomecare.

Lastly, make sure to share your discoveries and successes. If you find additional ways to spread the word and activism, make sure to let AAHomecare know about it so we can learn from your examples.

This article originally appeared in the February 2011 issue of HME Business.