I had the opportunity to attend the CELA conference in Baltimore this year. CELA stands for the Continuing Education and Legislative Advocacy conference. NRRTS put the conference on as a piggyback to the HME News Exposition & Conference.

I'll be typing up my notes from the presentations and interactions during the show and posting throughout the rest of the week.

The conference started off with a trip to Capitol Hill to visit with Senators and Representatives to lobby for a reversal of the recent 9.5% Medicare cut as well as to create a new industry standing for Rehab technology.

The trip to the hill was fun for me as it was the first time I've been to the Capitol. I got to meet with Legislative Aides and discuss the state of the industry with my local representatives. It was my first time participating in the democratic process more than voting in general elections.

At the de-brief the following morning, those who attended the days activities and spoke with their congressional office representatives were able to share their stories from the previous day. There was a wide range of reactions from the congressional reps. Some were very knowledgeable and willing to support both the reversal of the 9.5% cut and creating an independent status for Rehab. Some were very uninformed and needed an education on what the definition of DME is.

The majority of responses seemed to be that the 9.5% cut will not be coming back. There seems to be a positive reaction to creating an independent status for Rehab simlar to O&P. The suggestions from almost every office was that we needed to get a bill put together so that it could be reviewed and supported. Every office seemed to think of suggestions of another office to sponsor the bill but none of the offices volunteered to sponsor it themselves.

Overall I would rate the first day of the conference as a minor success. We were able to share the rehab story on the hill but we didn't receive an overwhelmingly warm reception or volunteers to champion the cause. Suggestions from the group are to have a bill next year and to bring consumers to the hill in wheelchairs to illustrate the importance of rehab better.

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