Federal Legislative Issues Update - October 2008
Washington Highlights
Fall has brought economic and political turbulence to Washington and around the country. It has also brought a flurry of legislative activity as Congress tries to get out of Washington and back to their home districts to campaign for the November elections. AOTA’s Capitol Hill Day on Monday, September 22 helped set the stage for the remaining legislative schedule when Congress took up and passed mental health parity legislation.
Mental Health Parity
In a long awaited and hard fought victory, AOTA and our colleagues in the mental health advocacy community gained final passage of mental health and substance abuse parity legislation. The bill passed and was quickly signed into law as part of the economic bail-out/rescue package that Congress enacted to help the country recover from the collapse of the subprime housing market and its subsequent domino effect on Wall Street and the economy.
The new parity law applies to group health plans with more than 50 members and requires plans that choose to provide medical, surgical and behavioral benefits to ensure that coverage, deductibles, copayments and limitations are the same for mental health and addiction services as they are for physical health benefits. This victory began with the spirit of the late Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN) and was carried to the end by Senators Kennedy (D-MA) and Domenici (R-NM) and Representatives Kennedy (D-RI and Ramstad (R-MN). The law takes effect on January 1, 2010.
Thank you to all of the AOTA members over the past decade who have advocated on behalf of people with mental illness and their families. This victory would not have happened without the grassroots support of health care practitioners like OTs and OTAs who know that mental health is health care.
AOTA Capitol Hill Day
On September 22, nearly 200 occupational therapy practitioners and students from around the country came to Washington to participate in one of AOTA’s largest-ever Capitol Hill Days. Participants met on Capitol Hill for a legislative briefing by AOTA Federal Affairs staff. The group was then addressed by Heather Parsons, an OT working on the Hill as the Legislative Director for Representative Brad Miller (D-NC). Heather talked about the importance of advocacy, the excitement of working on the Hill, and how she uses her OT training to inform the way she carries out her policy work. After the briefing the participants went to meet with their Members of Congress. The focus of Hill visits this year were on mental health parity, health care reform, and AOTA’s home health bill.
The event was such a success that AOTA is planning on conducting two Hill Days next year in both the spring and the fall. AOTA appreciates the participation of most of the AOTPAC Board, Affiliated State Presidents from as far away as California, and other occupational therapy leaders from around the country. This year we had OTA students from Durham-Tech in North Carolina and others from as far away as Nova-Southeastern in Florida and Washington University in St. Louis. We are always thankful for the repeated participation of West Virginia, St. Francis, SUNY-Downstate and the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.
A new participant this year was Towson University, who had nearly 50 students in attendance. AOTA looks forward to working with all of these schools and others next year to make this event a success. We also look forward to engaging state associations and employers like Progressus and Genesis to work with us, so that we have an even larger number of practitioners on the Hill next year. Thanks to everyone who helped make AOTA’s Hill Day a success.
The Medicare Home Health Flexibility Act (H.R. 5704)
AOTA has worked with Representative John Lewis (D-GA) to introduce the Medicare Home Health Flexibility Act, which would allow occupational therapists to open Medicare home health cases and to conduct the initial comprehensive assessment when occupational therapy is on the physician's order along with a qualifying service. AOTA is working to raise the profile of this legislation and to obtain cosponsors to build momentum for action on this bill the next time Congress addresses Medicare. Click here to learn more and take action today. AOTA’s Hill Day focused heavily on this issue and was successful in gaining several new cosponsors and responses to requests for cosponsorship—a result of Hill Day—are still coming in.
AOTA to Collaborate on New Department of Defense Initiative
AOTA is working in conjunction with the physical therapists, dieticians, and physicians assistants who, along with occupational therapy practitioners, make up the Army Medical Specialist Corps. The Specialist Corps helps ensure that these professionals use their unique skills to maximize the health and enhance the readiness of Warriors across the full spectrum of operational missions and environments. AOTA is working to raise the rank of the Chief of the Specialty Corps to Brigadier General status; currently the Chief is a Colonel. Learn more about the Specialist Corps by going to their Web site. To hear more about AOTA’s efforts, keep watching the Federal Legislative Issues Update and AOTA’s Legislative Action Center.
AOTPAC
Three AOTPAC Board members attended Capitol Hill Day this year. They participated in meetings with their members of Congress and attended fundraising events that evening, along with several AOTA members who participated in Hill Day.
Fundraising continues as the AOTPAC works toward its goal to raise $300,000 for calendar year 2008. AOTPAC is currently about $100,000 shy of that goal. Reaching this goal is critical during this important election year, which also marks AOTPAC's 30th Anniversary. Achieving this goal prior to the actual elections would increase our impact on behalf of occupational therapy, allowing us to get involved in more campaigns around the country. If you have not yet contributed, join your colleagues today to keep occupational therapy in the policy spotlight! Contributions can be made through the AOTA Web Site or mailed with the form there. Together, we can make a positive difference for occupational therapy!
AOTPAC sent the occupational therapy message to both the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August and the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis in September. Amy Lamb, AOTPAC Chair, and Christina Metzler, Chief Public Affairs Officer of AOTA, attended the Democratic convention. Amy Lamb; Penny Moyers Cleveland, AOTA President; and Tim Nanof, AOTA Legislative Representative, attended the Republican convention. The OT at the Conventions blog is still up and available for your reading pleasure.
The blog will be used again during the Congressional Swearing in activities and the Presidential Inaugural activities. AOTA members can be part of the history and win a trip to Washington, D.C. and the Presidential Inaugural activities by making an AOTPAC contribution of $1,000 by November 1, 2008. AOTA members who contribute $365 by November 1, 2008, will be entered into a drawing to win a trip to D.C. for the Congressional Swearing in activities.