Bill Dombi Spring Tour has two Major Announcements

Advocacy and Change

Bill’s core message has not changed, though the details of his ongoing battle to force CMS to take HHAs and Hospices more seriously has its 2024-2025 nuances. “Letting Congress know that you are an important healthcare sector, and clearly the most popular sector, is not NAHC’s job alone. Every one of you has power. Use it. Make your voices heard.”

Meetings with the Senate Finance Committee

To illustrate the point, he related a story about his recent visit to Portland to meet with the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, Ron Wyland (D-OR).

“Senator Wyden has been one of the major roadblocks to Medicare agencies getting fair payment rates. I went to see him with a group of agency owners and workers to describe the hardships the current and planned pay rate cuts will impose, and to explain the exact problems with the dumb formula CMS is using to calculate those pay rates.

“The Senator said, ‘But MedPAC says you make too much money and rates should be cut. Were they wrong? Or has something changed?’

Reaching Agreement…Almost

“Both, the group and I harmonized. One by one, each agency representative told him about the growing demand of an aging population, the difficulty hiring staff with the salaries our low pay rates allow them to pay, and a full litany of all the problems with Medicare Advantage.

“By the end of our meeting, we hadn’t turned him 180 degrees, but I could see he was beginning to turn.”Later, Dombi added, he met with Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), who is not only a member of the same Finance Committee but the fourth in line in the Senate pecking order. She offered to have a conversation with her colleague, and that turned Senator Wyden the rest of the way toward changing his position 180 degrees.

You Can Make a Difference

“If you think you as an individual owner have no power in Sacramento, Congress, or the White House,” Dombi concluded, “think again.”

See sidebar for the complete list of Finance Committee members. Everyone has power, but if you are a voter in one of their states, you have an even more powerful voice.

The Bill Dombi Spring Tour will continue throughout the year until his retirement. Join Dombi at the 2024 Financial Management Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, July 21-23 and at the 2024 Home Care and Hospice Conference and Expo in Tampa, October 20-22.