ACC’s Legislative Conference 2021 took place virtually Oct. 3 – 5. While the conference was virtual for the second consecutive year, attendance and impact were outstanding. Over 500 ACC members were a part of more than 300 visits with House and Senate members. In each visit, physicians and members of ACC’s CV Team spoke with representatives, senators and members of their respective staffs on four major points and related legislation that are priorities for the ACC because of their impact to the profession and to patients. This year’s major points are:

1. Stop the looming 10% cut to Medicare, which is to start Jan. 1, 2022, by signing onto the bipartisan letter to House leadership from Reps. Ami Bera, MD (CA) and Larry Bucshon, MD (IN).
   
   
2. Ask members of the House to sign on to the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2021, which streamlines prior authorization practices in the Medicare Advantage Program.
   
   
3. Encourage members to co-sponsor the Increasing Access to Quality Cardiac Rehabilitation Care Act, which moves up the timeline in which physician assistants, nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists can order/refer as well as directly supervise cardiac and pulmonary rehab from 2024 to 2022. Part of the access to care discussion was also to gain support for the Cardiovascular Advances in Research and Opportunities Legacy (CAROL) Act, which directs the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to allocate funding towards valvular heart disease (VHD) research and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to increase VHD public awareness.
   
   
4. Ask representatives and senators to sign on to the Telehealth Modernization Act of 2021, which will extend certain telehealth flexibilities that were initially authorized during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

The chair of ACC’s CV Team Advocacy Work Group is Heather M. Ross, PhD, DNP, CCA, who was a charter member of the CV Team in the early 2000s. Ross succeeded Linda Hart, DNP, RN, ACNP-BC, AACC, in 2017 as the chair of the Advocacy Work Group and has been a champion of advocacy for the past 10 years. I asked Ross about her experiences with advocacy and the Legislative Conference over the years. On this year’s Legislative Conference, Ross says, “I am inspired by the number of cardiovascular professionals who show up to make a difference, even when showing up means sitting in front of your Zoom or WebEx screen. The great results we have already seen with the Bera/Bucshon letter and the Senate companion bill to our prior authorization legislation in the House is a testament to the impacts we can make from showing up. On a side note, I was really happy to note that in my own delegation, CV Team members made up the majority of participants in our Hill meetings!”

When asked the importance of advocacy as a CV Team professional in particular, Ross says, “Many years ago, I met with my state senator about a bill related to the scope of practice for advanced practice nurses. At that meeting, my senator said, ‘You don't tell me what your scope of practice is. I tell you what your scope of practice can be.’ I was frankly shocked, and at that moment realized that if I don't advocate for my profession, I won't have a profession from which to care for my patients. That was the start of my journey in advocacy. I regularly share that story with other CV Team colleagues to help them understand how important it is that we show up and advocate for our work. It's a great example of the saying, ‘If you're not at the table you're on the menu.’”

We have already seen our efforts from the Legislative Conference bear fruit. The Bera/Bucshon letter gained almost 100 additional signatures after our visits and closed with signatures from 247 House members. The Increasing Access to Quality Cardiac Rehabilitation Care Act of 2021 and  the Cardiovascular Advances in Research and Opportunities Legacy (CAROL) Act (H.R. 1193) both were brought forward for discussion in the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Oct. 20, 2021, and H.R. 1193 passed out of committee on Nov. 17, 2021. Both of these bills are now closer to a floor vote and potential passage through the House.

According to Ross, “The ACC Health Affairs Committee and ACC Advocacy staff do a great job of highlighting priority bills that we can all get behind. In addition to the bills highlighted in this year's agenda, members can contact their senators to ask them to co-sponsor the brand new bill,  the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2021(S. 3108).” The legislation was introduced following lobbying efforts of a coalition of medical societies in which the ACC participates.

These actions that have all taken place within a few weeks of our visits show the power that we have as a collective to advocate for ourselves, and most importantly, for our patients. The importance of advocacy and involvement can perhaps best be summed up by Ross, “I always like to quote my friend Linda Hart who says that advocacy is a year-round team sport. In addition, it's really important that CV Team members know that our advocacy happens on the Hill, and it also happens at home with our state and local officials.”

The Advocacy Work Group is a team of highly motivated, intelligent and passionate CV Team members. There are several opportunities to be involved at any level you like with CV Team Advocacy. Follow @Cardiology and the #ACCAdvocacy and #ACCCVT hashtags on Twitter. Please consider becoming an active member of the Advocacy team and being part of advocacy in action at next year’s ACC Legislative Conference, Oct. 16 – 18, 2022, in Washington, DC.

CV Team members interested in getting involved in advocacy efforts can contact Heather M. Ross, PhD, DNP, CCA, at cvt@gmail.com, or Abby Cestoni, ACC staff liaison, at acestoni@acc.org. 

This article was authored by Adam Burget, BSN, RN. Twitter: @AdamBurget.

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