Meetings with U.S. Representatives Bryan Steil and Scott Fitzgerald Part of WiHPCA Effort to Meet with the Entire Wisconsin Congressional Delegation
In August, WiHPCA leadership met with staff from U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin’s office to thank her for her efforts on the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act – which aims to strengthen the hospice and palliative care workforce – and to discuss several other federal regulatory and federal issues important to the industry. In addition, WiHPCA presented Senator Balwin with the association’s “Champion of Hospice and Palliative Care” legislative award.
But our federal grassroots advocacy efforts did not end with the Baldwin meeting. WiHPCA’s goal is to meet with all members of Congress from Wisconsin, and we moved closer to that objective earlier this month. Our leadership team, which included WiHPCA President Lynne Sexten and board members Karen Carrig, Rita Hagen, and Carrie Schepp, met with U.S. Representatives Bryan Steil (R – WI-1) and Scott Fitzgerald (R – WI-5).
The meetings with Steil and Fitzgerald focused on educating the lawmakers and their staff members on the importance of hospice and palliative are, as well as discussing WiHPCA’s most pressing federal issues. Those issues included concerns with the CMS Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) “Hospice Carve-In” pilot program, the administrative and financial burden of the nursing home room and board Medicaid pass-through billing requirement, and the need for expanded hospice telehealth flexibility.
The WiHPCA Government Affairs Team is in the process of scheduling meetings with the rest of the Wisconsin congressional delegation, and we aim to complete all the meetings by the end of the first quarter 2023.
As you know, WiHPCA and our national partners are advocating on behalf of hospice palliative care every day, but nothing has an impact on elected officials like hearing from their constituents, so please consider participating in these important meetings. If you are interested, please contact the WiHPCA office at wihpca@badgerbay.co.
