EVENTS

Calendar of Events

Annual Meeting

NHF On The Road

Washington Day
   Follow Up

Congressman Tom Price's HTC Funding Letter

   HTC Funding
   Letter Talking Points

   Support for
   HTC Funding
   Letter

Other


HOME

WASHINGTON DAY 2005 FOLLOW-UP

Follow-up within a short time after your meeting with your Member of Congress or their staff is critical to building a relationship with that office. Letters are the most effective communication method and can be sent through the mail or copied and faxed to the office for even faster delivery. E-mail also has become an effective advocacy tool. However, only use e-mail if the staff person gave you their e-mail address or it is included on their card. To contact a Member of Congress via e-mail, use the e-mail listed on their card or website. Short on time? Call the office and ask to speak with the staff. Remember: The only bad follow-up is no follow-up!

Information for contacting House Members can be obtained at http://www.house.gov/. Senate contact information can be accessed at http://www.senate.gov/.

In your follow-up communications, be sure the make the following points:

• Thank the Member of Congress or staff for meeting with you. Include that you were in Washington on March 10, 2005, participating in the National Hemophilia Foundation’s Washington Day program.

• Remind them of your connection to the bleeding disorders community, i.e., a parent of a child with hemophilia, a woman with von Willebrand disease, etc.

• Request support for a $7 million increase in program funding for the Hereditary Blood Disorders program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

• If contacting a House office, request the Member of Congress sign on to Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) letter in support of increased treatment center funding. The contact for the letter is Keagan Resler at 202/225-4501.

• If contacting a Senate office, request their support for the increase in their “program funding” letter to the Appropriations Committee.

• Express your concern about the proposed cuts to the Medicaid program and suggest that Congress consider elimination of lifetime caps as a means of reducing costs without cutting coverage or services.

• Also, express your concern that Medicare reimbursement for clotting factor is inadequate to cover the costs of providing clotting factor drugs to the 1,100 beneficiaries with bleeding disorders. Request that your Member of Congress support Medicare payment at 100 percent of the maximum allowed rate to ensure Medicare beneficiaries with bleeding disorders.

• Thank the Member of Congress or staff again for their attention to your concerns. Let them know that you will call the office to follow-up on these requests.