The five all-important numbers I'm talking about make up your zip code, and those five digits are of critical relevance to our professional future right now. The zip code for your home is the key to finding the name and address for your elected officials.
It's important to find out the name, address, phone number and email of your elected officials: your U.S. senators and representatives, as well as your state legislators.
Many acupuncturists across the U.S. (much like many people in general around the country, unfortunately) don't seem to show much interest in their elected officials, even their state officials. That's a shame.
In reality, your state officials are the ones who decide what you can and cannot do in your practice. They create the laws and regulations in each state. The federal senators and representatives decide the national issues, which means they impact the practice of acupuncture overall.
In the current environment, it means Congress will decide the fate of the new Medicare bill: HR 4803; and whether acupuncturists will be recognized within Medicare and be able to treat (and be paid for treating) Medicare patients. It all starts in the U.S. House of Representatives, where the legislation has been introduced.
Whether you want to work with Medicare or you don't, H.R. 4803 is an important piece of legislation for the senior citizens of America and our profession overall. If passed, the bill will help give seniors and individuals with disabilities a choice in their health care that includes acupuncture; and help give our profession another victory in the fight for inclusion, recognition and opportunity within the health care system.
As an acupuncturist, you have one zip code (unless you own multiple homes in multiple locations, of course; but for the purpose of our conversation, we're talking about your primary residence). Now think about the United States overall. There are 41,702 zip codes in the U.S. What would the congressional impact be if only one acupuncturist from every zip code reached out to their state and federal leaders? Now imagine if every acupuncturist (and every acupuncture patient, for that matter) from every zip code did the same?
A congressional representative may have more than one ZIP code in their district. For example, the state of Alaska only has one zip code and only one current member of the House of Representatives. How many acupuncturists are there in Alaska? Think about how impactful it could be if the majority each sent a message to this single representative.
Finding Your Representative
So, how do you discover the identity of your congressional representative - the member of the U.S. House of Representatives who could help decide the fate of H.R. 4803? It's really quite simple. Here's a straightforward process that should only consume a few minutes of your time and will be well worth the effort:
- Search using your computer, tablet or phone for "U.S. House of Representatives."
- Click "Find Your Rep."
- Enter your ZIP code.
- Write down the name of the representative listed (or copy it if you know how to do so using your phone / tablet / computer).
- Now open a new window and type in the name of your representative in the search field (or paste it if you previously copied it).
- The official biography of the representative will come up.
- Read their bio carefully to find out if they have been responsible for or supported any legislation regarding health care.
- You can call your representative or email them just to introduce yourself and perhaps ask for the name of their staffperson who deals with health care (and who may already know about H.R. 4803).
Editor's Note: If the bill is passed by the House, it will then go to the U.S. Senate; if that happens, you'll want to contact your U.S. Senate members as well. Finding and contacting your state legislators is never a bad idea, either. Look for directives on how and when to do this from the ASA / NCCAOM leadership teams, which are coordinating advocacy efforts on an ongoing basis.
This is how we start a grassroots movement that gets this legislation, and future pro-acupuncture legislation, passed by Congress. Knowledge is power. (As of press time, the NCCAOM and the ASA are working on bullet points to help us begin to educate our federal representatives about acupuncture and traditional medicine.)
This process may seem like a lot of work, but it takes less than five minutes. Yes, one person can make a difference; will you be that person? It all starts with your zip code.
Passing the Medicare bill to add acupuncturists to the list of Medicare payees can help one-fourth of the American population (60 million Medicare beneficiaries) have access to our profession and the medicine we provide. Let's work together to help Congress recognize and support acupuncture and traditional medicine in America.
Click here for more information about Marilyn Allen, Editor-at-Large.