VGM launches ‘Champions of Change: 55 in 55’ 

WATERLOO, Iowa – VGM Government Relations has a goal of scheduling 55 visits with legislators or their staffers in 55 days in a final push to get H.R. 5555 and S. 1294 passed in Congress. 

“We are in the bell lap of the legislative session, and your voice is needed now to get us across the finish line,” said Mike Isaacson, senior vice president of government relations and regulatory affairs for VGM & Associates. “There is so much happening on Capitol Hill that the noise can drown out the real work that has to be done.  We need you, our Champions of Change, to make sure that the message is heard loud and clear. We need your elected officials to support H.R. 5555 in the House and S. 1294 on the Senate side.” 

VGM’s John Gallagher, vice president of government relations for VGM, was on hand at Prism Health Care Services in Schaumberg, Ill., on Oct. 24 to discuss the need for the bills with Jessica Sewell, the Chicago outreach director for Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill. Also in attendance: Neidi Mack, Tom Halpin, Mary Mundo and Elizabeth Slover of Prism Health Care; Maura Flanary of The Alden Skilled Nursing Facility Network; Julie Levin and Michelle Bos of Suburban Lung Associates; and Jack Avila of Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. 

In an additional push for the bills, VGM has teamed up with AAHomecare to host a virtual lobbying event on Nov. 13.  

The bills would provide a 90/10 blended Medicare reimbursement rate for most home medical equipment products in competitive bidding areas for all of 2024 and extend the current 75/25 blended rate currently in effect in rural/non-CBA areas through 2024.    

For more info on VGM’s Champions of Change: 55 in 55, please go here.