A Call to Action

Dear Colleagues:

Given the keen interest of Washington policymakers in health care generally, and in home care and hospice specifically, each year we eagerly anticipate the Home Care & Hospice March on Washington & Law Symposium. However, the truly historic nature of the 2008 elections for President of the United States promises major change in the Nation’s Capitol. Priorities will shift. Federal agencies will be headed by a whole new cast of characters. And, as occurs following each congressional election, a new class of Senators and Representatives will arrive in Washington, D.C., many of whom lack an understanding of the value that home care and hospice bring to elderly, infirm and disabled clients – and their families and friends. None of us who care about home care and hospice providers and their clients can afford to stand on the sidelines as this transformation takes place.

Our country has many great challenges facing it – housing, banking, and health care to name a few. Medicare program financing remains a great concern. Despite reductions in disability rates, a large proportion of our growing elderly population struggles with chronic illness. And our nation’s lack of a coherent policy to address long term care needs has family caregivers increasingly torn between honoring their parents and fulfilling their responsibilities as parents and members of the workforce.

You and I know the improved quality and dignity that home care and hospice services bring to the lives of those you serve. You and I also know that home-delivered services are not only less costly than institution-based services but that they hold the key to avoiding additional, future health care expenses. It is our charge to ensure that policymakers understand and take advantage of the value that you and your staff bring to the health care equation.

The single most effective means for raising awareness of home care and hospice is to make the trip to Washington, D.C., visit with your Senators and Representatives in their offices, and talk directly to the staff members that assist them in making health policy decisions. And the industry’s 2009 March on Washington, scheduled for March 22-25, 2009, provides the most effective venue for your efforts.

If you’ve never attended the March on Washington, 2009 is the year in which you must change that. If you have attended previously, 2009 is the year that you double the number of agency staff that you bring to participate in the political process. With all of us speaking as one voice, we can’t help but be heard.

We look forward to seeing you in Washington, D.C.

Sincerly,