In May, Wendy Mobley-Bukstein and I traveled to Washington, D.C., for the annual AADE Public Policy Forum. We had two days jam-packed with learning, advocacy updates, meetings with legislators and networking.
Sunday evening, we had an opportunity to network with other diabetes educators from various backgrounds from all over the country. We walked to a nearby restaurant and spent several hours talking about the struggles and successes educators and patients face, as well as talking a little bit about what we do in our home states. Diabetes educators from Colorado talked about their prescription co-pay cap bill (which had not yet passed). Pennsylvania educators talked about their tireless advocacy to enact emergency prescription bills. Illinois educators mentioned the differences between health care in Chicago and the rest of the state. Wendy and I shared about our experiences in Iowa – Wendy working in a federally qualified health center, and her struggles with billing for diabetes education because her background is in pharmacy. I talked about working in a retail supermarket environment and struggling to get referrals for clients, despite having a certified diabetes education program.
The one thing everyone had in common was a desire to improve the lives of people with diabetes. We ruminated about the exorbitant costs of medications, health care, medical equipment – the struggles with billing, changes in local legislatures and the extremely volatile debate around improving health care in the United States. We all want what is best for our clients, which is what brought us together at the Public Policy Forum.
On Monday, the entire day was spent hearing advocacy updates from professionals – Baker Donelson, American Diabetes Association, AADE’s own Kate Thomas. We also had grassroots advocates talk about the advocacy and legislation they are working on in their own states, including our own Wendy! She talked about our recent meeting with DHS and Medicaid about changes to diabetes testing supply billing. (See Wendy’s previous blog post for more information about the outcome of that meeting.)
All the advocates at the forum on Monday were given the tools and resources we needed to meet with our congressional representatives the next day. We were provided with the full text of the Expanding Access to Diabetes Self-Management Training Act, as well as the bill brief (a quick one-pager to explain the bill and why diabetes educators support it). Packets of information were provided for each legislator, to be left with their staff after our meetings. We were well educated that day, and our brains were bursting with information.
Tuesday was the big day. We went to the U.S. Capitol and spent the day meeting with representatives and their aides and lobbying for legislators to co-sponsor the Expanding Access to Diabetes Self-Management Training Act. We had about 10 minutes with each person, so our points had to be made quickly. We introduced ourselves, our profession, and brief (but important) points about why this bill needs more support. Here are the points we made:
- AADE did an independent scoring of this bill, and it is projected to potentially save Medicare between $4.9 billion and $9.4 billion over 10 years.
- This bill has bipartisan support, with no known objections.
- Diabetes education has been shown to improve outcomes and reduce complications; this bill expands access to diabetes educators by increasing the number of hours available for diabetes education each year and opens the door for virtual diabetes education appointments.
At the end of the day, Wendy and I had met with representatives and aides for Iowa Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst and Representative Cindy Axne. We left information for Representatives Dave Loebsack and Abby Finkenauer. Representative Steve King was already a co-sponsor of the bill, and we hand-delivered a thank-you note to his office to express our gratitude for his support.
We both returned home after a whirlwind few days in D.C. As a result of our meetings and continued outreach to Iowa legislators, Representative Finkenauer and Representative Axne have signed on as a co-sponsors of the Expanding Access to Diabetes Self-Management Training Act. We were also contacted by Representative Axne to speak with her during a roundtable discussion on prescription drug costs. Our goal is to advocate for the improved health of all Iowans. To us, access to affordable health care is a right that should be available to all Iowans. Until our goal of improving the lives of Iowans with diabetes is complete, we will continue to be here for you to represent the interest of diabetes educators.
The Iowa Coordinating Body would like to thank each and every educator in Iowa. We appreciate your support and the hard work you put in each and every day. We advocate for you, and we advocate for people with diabetes. We are honored to represent Iowa on these important topics, and we sincerely appreciate your continued trust and support.