Arkansas PACT Visits the New 110th Congress

By Theresa Gramlich, M.S., R.R.T.

The AARC Political Advocacy Contact Team (PACT) took the respiratory care issues to the new 110th Congress On March 6th of this year.  PACT representatives from each state scheduled over 200 personal meetings with the Congressional delegation to promote the legislative goals of the AARC and advocate for the care of the pulmonary patient.  John Campbell, RRT, Art Middleton, RRT, and Theresa Gramlich, RRT joined over 140 other RTs in Washington DC to bring these important issues to our Congressional decision-makers. 

Although some of these issues are the same as what has been presented in the past, one must understand that if a bill does not make it through Congress in one year, it must be reintroduced in the next year and begin a fresh process when Congress begins a new session.  This past January, the Pulmonary and Cardiac Rehabilitation Bill of 2007 was introduced in the Senate and a companion bill containing the exact provisions was introduced in the House of Representatives.  This bill, now identified as S.329 and HR. 552, was first introduced by Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln (D), and Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID).  This bill would require that Medicare develop one national policy on how it will reimburse for pulmonary rehabilitation services.  Currently, there are inconsistent reimbursement policies throughout the country.  In some states, pulmonary rehabilitation is fully covered whereas in others, such as Arkansas, there is no coverage at all.  For years the AARC has sought to have Medicare issue one national policy defining coverage criteria and the requirements that must be met for the reimbursement of this service.  This bill has widespread bipartisan support and it looks very hopeful for its passage.  All four Arkansas Congressmen and Senator Pryor have signed on to support this bill. 

Last year, the PACT members of each state wrote letters to defeat the Budget Reduction Act of 2006.  Within this lengthy bill was a Medicare provision that requires Medicare home oxygen patients to assume ownership of their oxygen equipment after 36 months of renting the equipment.  There were no provisions for continued service or maintenance of this equipment within this bill.  Unfortunately, this Budget Reduction Act did narrowly pass but not before Congress received several hundred emails and faxes from concerned RTs all across the country.  In January of this year, Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) introduced HR. 621, the Home Oxygen Patient Protection Act of 2007 which, if passed, will rescind the provision of oxygen equipment ownership after 36 months.  Interestingly though, the President’s proposed budget for 2008 calls for the 36 month rental to be lowered to 13 months, thus forcing home oxygen patients to assume ownership of their equipment after only 13 months.  This could be very detrimental to many elderly patients who depend on home oxygen as a life-saving benefit.  Passage of HR. 621 would prevent this from happening.  Again, the Arkansas Congressmen are 100% in support of this rescission and have signed on to support passage of HR. 621.

Our final issue is the toughest.  It is called the Medicare RT Initiative.  This is a new initiative that is asking Congress to recognize qualified respiratory therapists and the services they furnish by amending the Medicare Part B statute to include a separate benefit under “medical and other health services” provision.  If this initiative is enacted, qualified RTs will be able to provide services for the Medicare patient under the home health benefit, and also for patients in nursing homes, hospice, and other alternative care sites.  In short, this will revise the Medicare statute to permit qualified respiratory therapists to provide respiratory services under the general supervision of a physician.  There is much more information about this proposed initiative on the AARC website.  On March 12, 2007, we have received word from Arkansas Congressman Mike Ross (D) that he will introduce this legislation into Congress. 

We are very blessed in Arkansas to have the support of our Congressmen and Senators for our Respiratory Care issues.  The pulmonary Rehabilitation bill was introduced by Senator Lincoln and now the Medicare RT Initiative will be introduced by Congressman Ross.  Thanks to the work of the PACT and more specifically, the hard work and tenacity of John Campbell, Arkansas RTs have a lot of reasons to be proud.  But most importantly, the pulmonary patients of Arkansas have advocates who seek to provide them with better access to quality respiratory care. We ask that all Arkansas respiratory care practitioners contact their respective representatives regarding these issues.  Emails can be easily sent through the AARC Capitol Connection at aarc.org.  Simply click on your Congressman’s name and begin writing.  There are example letters and talking points also located on the AARC website.  It might be nice to simply send them a “thank you” for their support of these issues. 

For questions or more information regarding these bills, log onto AARC.org., or send email to tagramlich@uams.edu., JCampbell@htsp.mercy.net , or amiddleton@fdc.org .