Federal Advocacy

Formally known as Advocacy Week or PACT Week, the Annual Respiratory Care Fly-In is a time for respiratory therapists to come together in Washington, D.C. to fight for their patients and profession. This year’s Fly-In meeting to Washington DC is Sept. 26–27, 2023. The AARC PACT team has been meeting to discuss our current advocacy initiatives. The week will culminate with the annual Hill Day, which brings respiratory therapy into the spotlight on Capitol Hill through meetings with legislators and/or their staff. Here’s how you can participate: We need permanent telehealth/virtual pulmonary rehabilitation for Medicare beneficiaries (H.R. 1406) Request: Co-Sponsor of HR 1406 Without additional authority from Congress, CMS has no flexibility to permit permanent continuation of virtual cardiac and pulmonary rehab services to Medicare beneficiaries in their homes once the Public Health Emergency ended on May 11, 2023. The waivers under the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) allow cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation services to be furnished to patients in their homes as virtual services by physicians or practitioners in a hospital outpatient department through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Without Walls initiative. Under those waivers, respiratory therapists can furnish virtual pulmonary rehab services when an eligible practitioner bills for the service. Representatives John Joyce (R-PA) and Scott Peters (D-CA) introduced legislation called “Sustainable Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Services in the Home Act (H.R. 1406)”, which would permanently allow patients to receive in-home cardiac and pulmonary rehab services under Medicare. We need your help to gain co-sponsors forRead More