Hello everyone:
I had the wonderful opportunity to attend an event in Jackson Hole, Wyoming sponsored by Senator Mike Enzi. I spent the day fly fishing on the Snake River with others, most of whom were lobbyist in the DC area or Health Care related professionals/company representatives. Well, first let me share that I indeed did catch several fish, one was about 3 pounds and 20 inches long!
But the best thing about the event, was that I had the opportunity to individually visit with Senator Enzi about health care. He spent nearly 30 minutes speaking with me about the bills being reviewed and debated and listened to my concerns questions and issues surround Occupational Therapy. I also had the opportunity to speak with his Chief of Staff and as we all know that is the person we need to get to know! I have scheduled time later to visit on the phone and in person to further discuss health care reform and the role of Occupational Therapy in the proposed plans and changes.
In addition to visiting with Senator Enzi, I spoke with the senators from New Hampshire and Ohio. Both were supportive of Occupational Therapy and role that we play in all aspects of health care.
Once other great opportunity was speaking with a representative from Oracles (health management company) and sharing the value of Occupational Therapy. I sparked a thought in his mind by showing him the value of functional outcomes! Somethig he said he never thought about. I hope that he continues to keep this thought in his mind as he discussess health care reform with others and the other legislative representatives.
I felt really great about this opportunity and express my thanks to the AOTPAC for supporting me in this event. It was a great opportunity to share Occupational Therapy with my representative in the great state of Wyoming.
I hope everyone make a point to contact their representatives. I discovered that they are listening and want to hear from those they represent. Senator Enzi was great and I hope will he will remember Occupational Therpy as he debates the proposed bills.
Thanks,
Sheri Montgomery, OTR/L, FAOTA, Secretary of AOTA
Sheri,
I think what you did was amazing. I want to encourage everyone to contact their legislators. IT is a fabulous experience. I called my representative, Rush Holt, from central New Jersey. I have spoken to him several times over the past few years and at this point I feel like I know him and he knows me. I found out that he knows an amazing amount about occupational therapy and is always willing to talk about our causes. Even when we are supporting the same ideas, he is very willing to explain his position to me and the sometimes the inticacies of a bill.
Be active, go out and talk with your elected officials, they welcome it and you are furthering knowledge of OT each time you do this. Even though you may be nervous at first (I know I was), it is really a wodneerfully postitive experience.
Paula Kramer, Ph.D, OTR, FAOTA
Member, AOTA Board of Directors
hello madm .
I am Ashu from india. i m really very cofuse about this course , occupational therapy. i wanted to be a mbbs doctor. can u help me to know about this feild (ot) , and career oportunities in it . there r various mastres level degrees in it, such as MOT
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Fundraiser
On September 15, 2009, AOTA Legislative Representative Ralph Kohl and I attended the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Fundraiser on Capitol Hill in order to represent the profession of occupational therapy at this event. Representative Chris Van Hollen from Maryland’s 8th District was in attendance to discuss issues revolving around health care, the economy, and other initiatives. Issues discussed related to occupational therapy included the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act and inclusion of the public option into the proposed legislation. The CLASS Act would complement the Medicaid program with a focus on helping individuals overcome barriers to independence that they may face due to severe functional impairments. This piece of legislation would create a new national insurance program to help adults who have or develop severe functional impairments to remain independent, employed, and stay a part of their community. This act would help remove barriers to choice and independence (e.g., housing modification, assistive technologies, personal assistance services, transportation) that can be overwhelmingly costly, by providing a cash benefit to those individuals who need support for basic functions. The CLASS Act may have potential benefits for OT because we can be a part of those who provide these services to keep an individual in the community as long as possible. Therefore, it is the role of AOTA as well as of OT practitioners and students to advocate for these types of initiatives.
In addition, as many of us know, the public option has been the topic of many heated debates and many oppose this proposal. However, this means that if the government provides a public option, then this will help control the cost of private insurance due to increased competition in the market. Therefore, a larger number of Americans will be insured under some sort of affordable plan and thus will be seeking our services. Even though AOTA does not take a stand for or against health care reform, there are several areas of the proposed bills that we want to support in order to ensure our patients have adequate access to occupational therapy services! Thus, it is vital that we as OT practitioners and students provide Congress with our voice! Don’t forget to register for Capitol Hill Day on Monday, October 5 to make our voices heard!
Thank you!
Melissa Meier, Doctor of Occupational Therapy Student Intern in AOTA Federal Affairs
ASHU: Check out www.aota.org website for more information onoccupational therapy!
On September 15, 2009, Legislative Representatives Tim Nanof and Ralph Kohl, President of the New Hampshire Occupational Therapy Association Janet Wright, and I attended this fundraiser at the Newseum in downtown Washington, D.C. Several Congressmen in addition to Speaker of the House Nanci Pelosi were in attendance at the event. We even received the opportunity to shake Pelosi’s hand and announce that we were representing the American Occupational Therapy Association. The event was an opportunity for AOTA to speak to the key Congressmen in order to catalyze action on various occupational therapy initiatives. Fundraisers like these are also a means to get AOTA’s name out there and also to financially support key Congressmen who will carry out our requests. Thus, it is vital to contribute to AOTPAC so that our profession has adequate resources to push our initiatives forward.
Republican Chiefs of Staff Fundraiser
On September 23, 2009, AOTA lobbyists and I attended the Republican Chiefs of Staff Fundraising Event to advocate for various OT initiatives, including the Medicare Home Health Flexibility Act, which allows occupational therapy to open up home health cases by allowing them to complete the initial evaluation for patients when either physical or speech therapy is also on the physician’s referral. This bill has the potential to improve effectiveness and efficiency for beneficiaries receiving home health. If a patient needs more services from occupational therapy compared to physical or speech therapy, it makes more sense to allow occupational therapy to open up the case by allowing them to complete initial evaluation. This bill would not add any additional costs and is budget neutral. We received the opportunity at this fundraiser to speak to a Chief of Staff who supports this home health bill.
Representative Michael Thompson Fundraiser
On September 24, 2009, Ralph Kohl and I attended a fundraiser for Representative Michael Thompson from California. We discussed the Telerehabilitation issue and how occupational therapy should be included in it in order to further reach people in underserved urban and rural areas who need our services. He fully supports Telerehabilitation and has co-sponsored our proposal to include occupational therapy into these services.
Representative Betty McCollum Fundraiser
On September 24, 2009, Tim Nanof and I attended a fundraiser for Minnesota Representative Better McCollum on Capitol Hill. We received the opportunity to visit with the Congresswoman and with other lobbyists and constituents from Minnesota. Representative McCollum was wearing an off-the-shelf splint on her hand, which was a good way to initiate the conversation. We discussed her injury and how she was receiving occupational therapy for the injury. She also talked about her roommate from college who was going to occupational therapy school at the time, so she was very familiar with our profession. It was comforting to know that since she had received occupational therapy services, she was a primary candidate to advocate for our patients in the health care reform debate as well as for other issues. If she can pass the word to other Representatives, it will definitely be beneficial for our profession.
Senator John Thune: On October 1, 2009, I met with the health legislative assistant for South Dakota Senator John Thune and was able to also meet the Senator toward the end of the meeting. The Senator and I spent the majority of time making South Dakota connections as he grew up only 40 miles from my home town. In the meeting with the health legislative assistant, we discussed health care reform generally and then discussed specific issues affecting occupational therapy, including extending the exceptions process for the Medicare Outpatient Therapy Caps, ensuring access to rehabilitation and habilitation services, improving home health services for Medicare beneficiaries, and addressing health care workforce needs. She was particularly interested in the home health amendment and even passed information on to the Senator when I was in the room. I sent a follow up email the week after to continue to push these initiatives forward.
Virginia Senators Mark Warner and James Webb
Representatives Gerald Connolly, Robert Scott, Frank Wolf, and Jim Moran: On Capitol Hill Day, three students from Shenandoah University in VA and I met with staff from these Virginia Senators and Congressmen to discuss occupational therapy’s role in health care reform. We focused mainly on explaining occupational therapy and how VA’s constituents can benefit from OT. We then went into the same issues discussed with Senator Thune. We asked for their support for these issues and several seemed to be in support of what we were asking, specifically for the home health amendment and the inclusion of the specific language of rehabilitation and habilitation services in the final health care reform bill. The meetings seemed to be successful and we will follow up with each of these offices this week.
Consortium for Citizen’s with Disabilities (CCD):
On October 16, 2009, I attended the CCD meeting on behalf of AOTA. The main issue discussed pertained to amendments related to health promotion and disease-prevention in the workplace. Potential amendments would expand authority provided under HIPAA of 1996 to allow for increased health insurance premiums based on health status for employee wellness programs. The CCD believes that these amendments could lead to discriminatory practices and make health coverage unaffordable for those who need it most. The premium adjustments could be based on weight, tobacco use, blood pressure, cholesterol level, waist circumference, or others. There would be no specific limits regarding the specific risk factors that may be included as long as they “have a reasonable chance of improving the health of or preventing disease in participating individuals.” Affordability becomes an issue when providing incentives to one group of employees is financed by raising costs of policies for another group. This could become a significant problem for low-income individuals who have more than one job, take care of a family, and have limited access to food. These are the individuals who need it the most to help them address risk factors for health issues. The CCD believes that provisions may be a back door to making coverage to the sick unaffordable. Research does demonstrate that an incentive in the range of $50 to $6000 can be an effective tool to encourage employee participation in a worksite wellness activity. This may be an opportunity for occupational therapy to get involved in the community and in the context of the workplace in the areas of leisure skill development, lifestyle modification, stress management wellness activities, disease/disability education and management, etc.
During the meeting we also discussed the letter drafted for the Senate Finance Committee and HELP committee. The provisions directly impacting OT include advocating for the inclusion of the language “rehabilitative, habilitative, and devices” language into the health care reform package; for durable medical equipment to be defined as more than just devices used “in the home” and to include any that would enable clients to participate in the community; for the expansion of Medicaid eligibility; for inclusion of the CLASS Act that would assist people with functional disabilities access to long-term services and supports necessary to remain independent; for the extension of the exceptions process for the outpatient therapy caps; for not substituting comparative effectiveness research for clinical judgment.