07/07/2011


7/7/11 - CLC Letters to Congress Opposing Part B Coinsurance

Letter to White House
Letter to Senate
Letter to House

Opposition to Medicare Part B Coinsurance 

6/22/11

Sample letter opposing Part B coinsurance for you to personalize and email or fax to your U.S. Senators and Representative

Instructions and talking points to copy and distribute in all of your patient service centers 

 

NILA Instructions for Hill Phone Calls/Faxes Re: Coinsurance

ACTION REQUEST: Call your Members of Congress and tell them NO to coinsurance for clinical laboratory services! After your phone call, fax or email the personalized letter to their office.

BACKGROUND: Congress is considering a 20% Medicare coinsurance requirement across Medicare Part B, including laboratory services. Congress needs to understand the effect such coinsurance requirements will have on a laboratory's business when patients refuse to pay it and the laboratory cannot collect the payment. Laboratory coinsurance was rejected by Congress in 2003 and 2009 because the cost of collecting these small coinsurance amounts (averaging $1-$2 per service) easily exceeds the amount collected, placing an immense burden and cost on independent laboratory businesses, particularly small community laboratory businesses.

THE PROCESS:
 

  1. If you already know who your Member of Congress and your two Senators are, call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected.
  2. If you do not know who your Member in the House of Representatives is click here: http://www.house.gov/ and enter your zip code in the top right hand corner of the page.
  3. If you do not know who your two Senators are click here: http://www.senate.gov/ and use the drop down box in the top right hand corner to select your state. Every state has two Senators representing the entire state. Please contact both of your Senators!
  4. When you are connected to the office ask to speak to the Health Legislative Assistant. If you are connected directly to the staffer, please introduce yourself and be prepared to explain some of the information from the script below. If you are connected to the staffer's voicemail, again, introduce yourself and be sure to leave your contact information clearly in the message. You should also outline some of the main points from below.
  5. Ask the person with whom you speak for the best way to get a letter to the office (either fax or email). Ask for the fax number or email address they prefer.
  6. Send the letter via the preferred method.  

Talking Points

THE MESSAGE: Please use the bullet points below and other points in the attached letter to develop a personalized message for your Members of Congress. Be prepared to speak to a staffer in your Representative and Senators' offices about these key issues.

  • I work for (name of lab) laboratory in (city, state), an independent clinical laboratory serving (approximate number of Medicare beneficiaries) annually.
  • I am calling to express my strong opposition to congressional efforts to impose a 20% coinsurance on Medicare Part B that includes clinical laboratory services. 
  • Laboratory coinsurance was rejected by Congress in 2003 and 2009 because the cost of collecting these small coinsurance amounts (averaging $1-$2 per service) exceeds the amount collected, placing an immense burden and cost on laboratory businesses, particularly small community laboratory businesses.  
  • Many independent studies report it is unlikely that a laboratory coinsurance will impact utilization because of the way laboratory tests are ordered, especially in a nursing home facility, where common tests may be ordered weekly in order to manage chronic disease and life threatening conditions and to sustain a patient's health.
  • Comprising less than 2% of all Medicare spending, clinical laboratory testing is not the place to turn when seeking to address the federal debt limit. We simply cannot balance the budget on the backs of America's small businesses.   

Remember to leave your contact information!

Good luck, and please keep NILA informed about your contacts and any responses that you get.

 

If you have any questions, please contact the NILA office by mail at 906 Olive Street, Suite 1200, St. Louis, Missouri 63101-1448, telephone: 314-241-1445, fax: 314-241-1449, email: nila@nila-usa.com.

 

Other Sites of Interest

Clients Logo
Clients Logo
Clients Logo
Clients Logo
Clients Logo
Clients Logo
Clients Logo