Happy Summer folks! I hope all have been enjoying this unbelievable weather and doing some fun things with family and friends. Maybe that included attending the Indiana State Fair (which I attended 5 different times). What can I say, I love the Fair!
I also hope those of you who attended the ISAHU State Convention this year walked away with some great information from the various speakers that were on hand such as those from the Department of Labor and HHS. In addition, of course Janet Trautwein – NAHU CEO – was here and gave a great update on how Washington DC actually works from a political standpoint when it comes to healthcare and other areas.
As you are all aware, political events and fund raisers at both the State and Federal levels for the 2014 election cycle are in full gear. Members of your Legislative Team do our very best to participate in these when cost effective to do so.
For instance, several local NAHU members attended an August 12th fund raiser for Congresswoman Susan Brooks that was hosted by Rebecca Gordon and Sylvia Gordon of Gordon Marketing in Noblesville.
David Berman and Dwight “D” Hall also attended State Legislative Leadership events hosted by Bose Public Affairs at their offices downtown.
Some of our members also participated in July 4th parades assisting political candidates and office holders.
These type events provide an excellent opportunity to share views and show support to those candidate/office holder that support our industry. If you have not taken the opportunity to attend one of these, I would ask you to please consider doing so.
Remember that there are ongoing State and Federal office holder meetings/townhalls/fund raisers being held back in the Districts. Our elected officials and candidates are always in need of hearing your concerns on healthcare (and other issues as well.). As mentioned before, they are particularly looking for actual stories from you, your clients and prospects that outline either pitfalls or successes regarding ACA. Please share with them when you can.
It truly is up to people like you to share other issues of interest with them as all of you have different areas of expertise and concern. Please identify such opportunities and attend whenever possible. They may be advertised on the radio, TV, on the office holder’s websites or you can find out information on the political party websites. They need our help folks so let’s not let them down.
Federal Update
Open Enrollment for ACA will be coming soon so I hope all who wish to participate on the Exchange (Marketplace) have either completed or are in process of completing their registration. Hopefully it will be a much smoother process this year on the www.healthcare.gov site.
In addition, please continue to read the Newswires and Legislative Updates that come from NAHU. It’s absolutely the best information available for your use.
There continues to be many pieces of legislation being offered up by the House (over 330 in total with many that address ACA concerns). Unfortunately, they remain blocked in the Senate and it’s extremely doubtful if any will be allowed to come to vote until after the November elections. but that address various aspects of ACA, but the main one’s that are being supported by NAHU are as follows:
State House Update
The Summer Study Committees are coming to a close and it does not appear that there will be much of major consequence on the health side of things this coming session. Much of this success is due to ongoing efforts of the ISAHU Lobbying firm – Bose Public Affairs. More information will be provided as it becomes known.
General Information
As I have said many, many times I cannot compliment enough our NAHU staff and countless NAHU members around the State and Country who continuously put in long hours to ensure the best information possible is being shared with Legislators, HHS, CMS, IRS, DOL, DOI’s and of course NAHU members. Many of these folks do this in anonymity and solely for the benefit of the Association, our members and the general public.
For instance, David Berman is serving as the Region 3 Legislative Chair during this Association year. You might thank him when you see him for his willingness to serve in this capacity.
And to all those involved at the State and Local levels – THANK YOU SO MUCH!
PACs
And my normal conclusion is of course PAC related – both HUPAC and ISAHU-PAC. Your financial help is needed. As I mentioned above, fund raising cycles have already started for candidates at both the State and Federal levels. (They actually never end!) Both ISAHU and NAHU do an excellent job of supporting candidates that support the industry as a whole. So all dollars collected goes toward that goal. Using those dollars, we have been very successful particularly here in Indiana in getting legislators elected that have and will continue to support the vast majority of industry goals.
Each election cycle pretty much depletes our PAC coffers. We need to replenish them for ongoing political events and the next election cycle. If you’re not already contributing, please find forms either available in the newsletter on at the websites – www.inahu.org or www.nahu.org . Put a monthly contribution on your credit card as many of us do and it really is a painless process. It’s a small price to pay to support activities that really do make a difference in the ongoing legislative battles.
Note again that ISAHU-PAC is on a fiscal year from July 1 – June 30th each year. So if you are not on a monthly contribution plan, please consider getting on one or making your 2014 contribution in your usual manner.
I and the rest of the ISAHU Legislative Committee truly appreciate the opportunity to work with you to help promote real “health-care reform”. Please feel welcome to contact any of us at any time.
— Dwight “D” Hall
IAHU Legislative Chair
