AAH: Pulls out all the stops for H.R. 4229

WASHINGTON - With it “increasingly possible” that a competitive bidding-related interim final rule may never be finalized by the Office of Management and Budget, AAHomecare is stepping on the gas on H.R. 4229.

“While this realization is a difficult pill to swallow, it also underscores the importance of our legislative efforts,” wrote Tom Ryan, CEO and president of AAHomecare, in the association's weekly bulletin to members on Wednesday.

Those legislative efforts got a boost this week when a letter signed by 56 members of the House of Representatives was sent to leaders of the Appropriations Committee, asking them to include provisions from H.R. 4229 in upcoming budget legislation. The number of co-sponsors for H.R. 4229 also hit 128 this week.

AAHomecare acknowledges that including provisions from H.R. 4229 into the budget legislation will be an uphill battle, with hundreds of competing interests looking to influence or be part of the budget legislation.

“But we have one important factor in our favor: Thanks to your strong advocacy efforts, 20 members of the House Appropriations Committee are H.R. 4229 co-sponsors,” Ryan said.

AAHomecare encourages stakeholders to now target decision makers on both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to reinforce the message of the recent sign-on letter, which was spearheaded by Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., who also introduced H.R. 4229.

“Let's build on this foundation and make a strong impression on these targets this week and next week,” Ryan wrote. “We've come too far to let this opportunity clip by without giving it our all.”