Action on Health Reform is Needed

Ask Congress to Include Lung Health Provisions in Final Bill

Health reform in on the table in Congress now and you can play a role by supporting lung health provisions in the final bill.

Earlier this year, two bill were introduced into Congress as S 343 in the Senate and HR 1077 in the House. These bills, known as the Medicare Respiratory Therapy Initiative, would provide you with better access to respiratory therapists.

“Right now respiratory therapists are held captive in the hospital and can’t visit with patient in doctor’s office, the home or other kinds of clinics—and have those services considered for reimbursement by Medicare,” said Cheryl West, director of government affairs for the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC).

She explains that the Medicare Respiratory Therapy Initiative would broaden those options and allow for patients to get better access to the services of respiratory therapists. “But with health reform on the table it is imperative that the provisions of S 343 and HR 1077 be included with the health reform package, otherwise the basic premise of the Respiratory Therapy Initiative will die when they pass the larger bill.”

West says, “Today we need to rally the troops and get the message out: Please include S 343 and HR 1077 in the final markup of health reform.”

Between now and the Fall when the final “mark-up” of the bill is expected (mark-up is the process that creates a final draft of the legislation and creates a common Senate/House bill) please write to your members of Congress.

A simple and handy template letter is available for you to use to send an email on the AARC’s Capitol Connection website. However we encourage you to make the letter as original and personal as possible to tell your own compelling lung health story.