From the Hill
A Strong Offense Is the Best Defense
By Walter Gorski
AOPA Government Affairs Department
There is a Far Side comic where two deer are standing in the woods having a very important conversation. One deer looks solemnly at his friend and says, “Bummer of a birthmark, Hal.” The other deer has a bull’s-eye on his chest.
There is a sense in the O&P community that the profession has a bull’s-eye on its chest and is under threat from every conceivable angle. Inadequate payment rates. Mountains of new regulatory burdens. Encroachment by other providers. Caps on private insurance O&P payments. Coverage restrictions. And that’s only a partial list.
Yet the underlying theme is that these are threats to our security. We want security for our families and our practices. We want to stay in business and provide only the highest level of care that our patients expect and demand.
How best can we go about securing our future?
We can greatly enhance our standing with policymakers on make-or-break issues if we personalize O&P.
Personalizing O&P
There is a sense in the O&P community that we are so small a group it is virtually impossible to influence the direction of legislation and regulation.
Many have asked me, “How can we compete against hospital interests that are typically an economic powerhouse in every congressional district across the country? Or how can we take on physicians, home health or skilled nursing facilities that have far larger constituencies and government relations programs than O&P?”
I answer: We must appear larger than we are and have the facts on our side.
There is no doubt that we have the facts on our side. The field hasn’t received a payment increase on the Medicare front since January 1, 2003, even while all practice and business costs have skyrocketed. O&P businesses cannot stay afloat if costs continue to rise while payments stagnate.
We also have a study funded by AOPA showing that the growth in Medicare O&P spending is primarily the result of epidemics such as diabetes and obesity. The number of patients requiring O&P services is driving spending. Further, this study shows that neither fraud nor overutilization is leading to higher O&P expenditures. The assumption of fraud and/or overutilization was the prime motivating factor behind implementing the payment freeze in 2003.
The greater challenge is how to get these facts and other important messages to the key members of Congress who are making the decisions that affect our future. This is easier than you may think — all it takes is personalizing O&P by showing what we do for patients each and every day.
Taking the offense
Rather than wait until a threat presents itself, what if we worked to prevent the threat from occurring in the first place? This can be done by creating allies in Congress. And you may be surprised how easy it can be to find or create allies.
Your high school classmate may now be a member of Congress or a senior congressional staffer. Or you may have personally treated a lawmaker or his or her immediate family member. These are personal connections that can serve us well.
But even if a personal relationship is not readily available, we can create them one person at a time. Let me give you an example.
A friend of mine told me how O&P was personalized for him. He was at the gym and saw a bilateral amputee working out. He was simply amazed and told me how extraordinary it was to see this individual. He’s now an advocate and looks at O&P in an entirely different light.
The lesson here is that what is commonplace for you is phenomenal to virtually everyone else. And I can tell you with certainty that lawmakers and their staff are likely to be just as amazed as my friend.
So what if every lawmaker were to have this same eye-opening experience and see how we improve the lives of amputees and those who require the use of an orthosis? I strongly suspect that it would be far harder to vote against an O&P proposal or vote for cutting O&P payments.
Change is coming
Frequently on the evening news we hear about the impact baby boomers are going to have on our health care system or that health insurance premiums are slowing to a “restrained” rate of 8 percent to 11 percent per year. We don’t need to be economists to figure out that something needs to be done and that change is on the horizon.
What I fear is that when change to our health care system is thrust upon us, O&P will not be prepared.
This is why AOPA is taking steps now to ramp up its grassroots government relations programs—not only to be prepared for impending changes but also to advance proposals that will improve the practice of O&P.
But we need your help.
Reaching out
Did you know there is at least one O&P patient care facility in virtually every congressional district across the country? This gives us a broad base from which to reach out to elected officials and educate them on issues that are important to O&P.
AOPA is in the process of taking advantage of this situation. We are reviewing our membership list and linking facilities with key congressional leaders. I will be reaching out to you personally to help you invite your lawmaker to tour your facility.
But you don’t need to wait for AOPA to call.
Please be proactive and call your member of Congress today. Invite them to see your facility and witness how you improve the lives of your patients. We have issue papers you can share that discuss key issues threatening our future. We also have a step-by-step guide telling you everything you need to know about how to conduct facility tours.
I hope you will take up this challenge. The security of O&P and our livelihoods are at stake. Let’s not leave our future to chance.
Walter Gorski is the director of legislative and regulatory affairs for the American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association (AOPA).
Through government relations efforts, AOPA works to influence policies affecting the future of the O&P profession.
Questions? Call (571) 431-0876 ext. 209 or visit www.AOPAnet.org.
By Walter Gorski
AOPA Government Affairs Department
There is a Far Side comic where two deer are standing in the woods having a very important conversation. One deer looks solemnly at his friend and says, “Bummer of a birthmark, Hal.” The other deer has a bull’s-eye on his chest.
There is a sense in the O&P community that the profession has a bull’s-eye on its chest and is under threat from every conceivable angle. Inadequate payment rates. Mountains of new regulatory burdens. Encroachment by other providers. Caps on private insurance O&P payments. Coverage restrictions. And that’s only a partial list.
Yet the underlying theme is that these are threats to our security. We want security for our families and our practices. We want to stay in business and provide only the highest level of care that our patients expect and demand.
How best can we go about securing our future?
We can greatly enhance our standing with policymakers on make-or-break issues if we personalize O&P.
Personalizing O&P
There is a sense in the O&P community that we are so small a group it is virtually impossible to influence the direction of legislation and regulation.
Many have asked me, “How can we compete against hospital interests that are typically an economic powerhouse in every congressional district across the country? Or how can we take on physicians, home health or skilled nursing facilities that have far larger constituencies and government relations programs than O&P?”
I answer: We must appear larger than we are and have the facts on our side.
There is no doubt that we have the facts on our side. The field hasn’t received a payment increase on the Medicare front since January 1, 2003, even while all practice and business costs have skyrocketed. O&P businesses cannot stay afloat if costs continue to rise while payments stagnate.
We also have a study funded by AOPA showing that the growth in Medicare O&P spending is primarily the result of epidemics such as diabetes and obesity. The number of patients requiring O&P services is driving spending. Further, this study shows that neither fraud nor overutilization is leading to higher O&P expenditures. The assumption of fraud and/or overutilization was the prime motivating factor behind implementing the payment freeze in 2003.
The greater challenge is how to get these facts and other important messages to the key members of Congress who are making the decisions that affect our future. This is easier than you may think — all it takes is personalizing O&P by showing what we do for patients each and every day.
Taking the offense
Rather than wait until a threat presents itself, what if we worked to prevent the threat from occurring in the first place? This can be done by creating allies in Congress. And you may be surprised how easy it can be to find or create allies.
Your high school classmate may now be a member of Congress or a senior congressional staffer. Or you may have personally treated a lawmaker or his or her immediate family member. These are personal connections that can serve us well.
But even if a personal relationship is not readily available, we can create them one person at a time. Let me give you an example.
A friend of mine told me how O&P was personalized for him. He was at the gym and saw a bilateral amputee working out. He was simply amazed and told me how extraordinary it was to see this individual. He’s now an advocate and looks at O&P in an entirely different light.
The lesson here is that what is commonplace for you is phenomenal to virtually everyone else. And I can tell you with certainty that lawmakers and their staff are likely to be just as amazed as my friend.
So what if every lawmaker were to have this same eye-opening experience and see how we improve the lives of amputees and those who require the use of an orthosis? I strongly suspect that it would be far harder to vote against an O&P proposal or vote for cutting O&P payments.
Change is coming
Frequently on the evening news we hear about the impact baby boomers are going to have on our health care system or that health insurance premiums are slowing to a “restrained” rate of 8 percent to 11 percent per year. We don’t need to be economists to figure out that something needs to be done and that change is on the horizon.
What I fear is that when change to our health care system is thrust upon us, O&P will not be prepared.
This is why AOPA is taking steps now to ramp up its grassroots government relations programs—not only to be prepared for impending changes but also to advance proposals that will improve the practice of O&P.
But we need your help.
Reaching out
Did you know there is at least one O&P patient care facility in virtually every congressional district across the country? This gives us a broad base from which to reach out to elected officials and educate them on issues that are important to O&P.
AOPA is in the process of taking advantage of this situation. We are reviewing our membership list and linking facilities with key congressional leaders. I will be reaching out to you personally to help you invite your lawmaker to tour your facility.
But you don’t need to wait for AOPA to call.
Please be proactive and call your member of Congress today. Invite them to see your facility and witness how you improve the lives of your patients. We have issue papers you can share that discuss key issues threatening our future. We also have a step-by-step guide telling you everything you need to know about how to conduct facility tours.
I hope you will take up this challenge. The security of O&P and our livelihoods are at stake. Let’s not leave our future to chance.
Walter Gorski is the director of legislative and regulatory affairs for the American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association (AOPA).
Through government relations efforts, AOPA works to influence policies affecting the future of the O&P profession.
Questions? Call (571) 431-0876 ext. 209 or visit www.AOPAnet.org.
