The RPA Health Policy Handbook - Renal Physicians Association

Importance of Relationships
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Building
Relationships
No one likes a complainer – unless they’re family or friends. The same holds true in
advocacy. You are not likely to accomplish your goals if you only call on lawmakers to ask for
something or complain about an issue that is affecting you. It is useful and worthwhile to
identify who you should know, and then establish ongoing relationships with those key
players. Building these relationships is not confined only to legislators, but also to regulators,
members of industry, and other community leaders and stakeholders.
Identifying your Representative in Congress
Before you begin communicating with your legislators, you must identify who represents you.
To find your members of Congress, please visit RPA’s online Legislative Action Center at
www.capwiz.com/renalmd and enter your zip code. Each constituent is represented by
two Senators and one Representative. The Representative serves a specific area of population
– know as a district – within a state. The two Senators serve the state as a whole.
Know the Role of Your member
Though any member of Congress can introduce a bill, few can ensure that the bill gets
passed or even gets a fair hearing. Identify which (if any) of your members sit on major
committees that address health care issues. The three congressional committees that have
jurisdiction over Medicare issues are the Senate Finance Committee (SFC), the House Ways
and Means Committee (W&M), and the House Energy and Commerce Committee
(E&C)—all of which have subcommittees specifically assigned to address health care issues.
Thus, if RPA would like a bill introduced in the Senate related to Medicare reimbursement
for physician services, we would work with members of SFC in general and the SFC Health
Subcommittee in particular. Members of those three committees, and particularly the House
subcommittees, are considered “experts” in Medicare policy.
See APPENDIX B for a list of committee members serving on the key Congressional
committees with jurisdiction over Medicare issues.
health policy handbook for nephrology practitioners
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