Virtual Lobby Week March 9-18, 2015

Members of the RCSW Political Advocacy Contact Team (PACT) are going to Washington, D.C. on March 18 to lobby for the Medicare Telehealth Parity Act. You can help play a role in their success by participating in the AARC Virtual Lobby week, starting March 9th, where your letters and contacts with your members of Congress will help pave the way.

Members of the AARC’s Political Advocacy Contact Team (PACT) will be flying in from over 44 states and the District of Columbia on March 17 to get ready for more than 300 visits to Congress on March 18.

This year, the group will be advocating for the Medicare Telehealth Parity Act. This is a piece of legislation that has wide support from the health care community. It benefits respiratory therapists in several key ways: It covers licensed respiratory therapists as qualified telehealth practitioners. It incorporates respiratory therapists into the Medicare statute. It adds coverage of remote patient management services, including COPD.

How to be Heard? (It's easy!)
Email your members of Congress (here's how)
Call your members of Congress (here's how)

Why Congress Should Co-Sponsor and Support the Medicare Telehealth Parity Act
Talking Points for Hill Briefings
Frequently Asked Questions on the Medicare Telehealth Parity Act

The legislative agenda of the AARC for this session of Congress is generate support for the Medicare Telehealth Parity Act. This important bi-partisan bill expands opportunities for Medicare beneficiaries to improve health outcomes through telehealth services, including as specifically mentioned in the bill’s provisions the services of the respiratory therapist. COPD is one of the chronic conditions included in this bill that would be covered under remote patient management services that include patient monitoring, training, clinical observation, assessment and treatment.

It is critical that we educate Members of Congress and their staffs on the importance of the Medicare Telehealth Parity Act and the value that respiratory therapists can provide in delivering telehealth respiratory services to Medicare beneficiaries.

Your emails, phone calls or letters will reinforce the message that your PACT representatives and our supportive colleagues will be delivering face-to-face with your Senators and the Members of the House of Representatives.

Besides hearing from respiratory therapists, it’s very important that members of Congress hear from physicians, patients, family and caregivers. Senators and Representatives listen intently to voters from their home district and especially from those of you whose health can be improved when respiratory therapists directly assist you.

While you might not be able to “walk the halls of Congress,” your message of support for the profession of respiratory therapy and the patients you serve surely will.

You can find out how the Medicare Telehealth Parity Act improves Medicare patient access to respiratory therapists by reading the Frequently Asked Questions                 - AARC Advocacy

The Political Advocacy Contact Team are individuals that have been appointed by their state respiratory therapy societies to be the key contacts for lobbying federal and state legislative issues.