H.R. 4378: Making progress

I was at Medtrade when Gerry Dickerson announced Rep. Joseph Crowley agreed to sponsor H.R. 4378, a bill to create a separate benefit for complex rehab, and I was at CELA when Don Clayback announced its introduction to the House floor. I also was able to hit the Hill with the New York team to promote the bill the next day.

I feel a little a connection to the bill, they way you do when a kid you babysat goes to graduates high school or gets married—I was there to see part of that bill's growing up.

So I'm happy to see the stakeholders are still pushing forward in the right direction. Don Clayback sent me the list of cosponsors July 12 and it's up to 23! And six of those representatives are Republicans, not an easy feat with a bill that was introduced by a Democrat.

"We're making progress in the key areas we need to make progress in," Don Clayback told me on the phone this week. He says it's a "one office at a time" kind of thing, but stakeholders are having ongoing conversations at least a dozen lawmakers on key committees and he expects things to keep going well.

To help get those and other lawmakers on board, stakeholders are circulating a "Call to Action" flyer meant for consumers, clinicians, HME employees, advocacy organizations, and others. Don Clayback sent us a copy—it's a boiled down explanation of why the bill is needed and what people can do to make this happen.

Also going around: an online petition in support of H.R. 4378 that has 950 signatures.

And we all know the Roll On Capitol Hill volunteers talked up the bill during the last week in June during their 100+ legislative visits.

So things are rolling right along for H.R. 4378. Of course, there's still a lot of work to do. Anyone interested in helping make sure Medicare recipients get the complex rehab they need—minus the "in the home" provision—should head to www.access2crt.org.