ACC Legislative Conference, October 15-17, 2023, Washington, DC
Indiana-ACC members advocated for their patients and for their profession.
Experience from Emily Keltner, MA
ACC Legislative Conference in 2023 was I believe my 5th year in a row going (a few of those virtual). All that I had seen in the news of late with the war breaking in Israel and the Gaza Strip and the Speaker of the House yet to be filled with voting on the day of the conference gave me serious doubt about making any kind of impact. What I found was very different than the narrative that I had seen and was then expecting. All members of Congress were interested in hearing what we had to say. What a great opportunity it was to pull the Indiana members aside after Rep. Larry Bucshon MD after receiving an award from ACC. We had a great impromptu conversation with him. He was very reassuring that work was still getting done without a named Speaker of the House. It was also very interesting how he gets up to the minute news. He even shared who he counts on for reliable information. I was very impressed with the House members and staffers’ ability to work us on a very busy day. They were literally voting for the next Speaker of the House in the middle of meeting with us. I was surprised how many were able to meet with us. I was expecting to only meet with House aides. We got to go on the Senate floor and watch two Senators present legislation on the record. I noticed many young children on field trips and even looked to be high school students involved on the Senate proceedings. All the times I had come to DC, this was the first time I was able to go to the Senate Floor. This was an invite from Mike Braun. We had a different format for the Senators this year. It was more of a relaxed forum they call a Hoosier Huddle. Senator Braun spent a great deal of time discussing healthcare with us. I was able to meet with 6 Legislators or their aides on this trip.
The most impressive visit was with Rep. Rudy Yakym IN-2. He was a 4:30 appointment. I specifically made sure to spend an extra night to make the later meetings because I knew the Indy members’ last flight from DC was 5:30pm. I wanted to make sure we had someone there for the later appointments. I am sure glad I did. Angela Raymer and I were the only ones at this meeting. One of the first things Rep Yakym asked is where we were from. I started to explain we were here on behalf of the American College of Cardiology. He said he knew that but wondered if we were from Indiana. I said Fort Wayne. I was afraid he didn’t want to see us because we were not constituents. He wanted to invite us as personal guests to the upcoming Speaker of the House vote that we tried to get into earlier in the day. We had a great meeting for about 30 min. He said he thought the vote would take place at 6 pm and to be back at 5:30 pm and he would walk us there. When we got there, we found out the vote was postponed to the next day. He asked if we were interested in a tour instead. Of course, we were. There was another family that arrived at the same time we did. He had invited them as well. The 5 of us went on a behind-the-scenes tour that only a member of Congress could take you to. Some of this was areas the public never sees. He took us down the hallway with all the annual state artwork from students displayed. We walked through that and past a live broadcast and let us know we were about to be on CNN. He took us to the House Floor in the balcony since it was technically still in session otherwise he would have taken us on the floor. He spent 20 minutes explaining the voting process, showing us his personal ID card for voting, and explaining the historical significance of different artwork. A truly inside look at the life of a member of Congress on the floor. We went through the rotunda and hallways I had never seen. He told us about a secret staircase and even took us up it. He explained why we could smell cigars. He told us we were standing where the woman was shot during the Jan 6th insurrection. We went up and down the staircase that you saw video of the members of Congress exiting the floor that day. He took us through the Speaker’s gallery. I didn’t even know that existed. He then had someone open the door for us so we could go out on the Speaker’s balcony at sunset. I cannot possibly put into words what an incredible gift this was. I couldn’t even dream I could have an experience like this. This was just pure kindness and Rep Yakym’s love of his job and serving Hoosiers. There was nothing asked in return, no hidden agenda. It was clear he just wanted to share the history and experiences with others who show enthusiasm for the Legislative Branch. As I stepped out of the Capitol, the way that members of Congress would, I was near tears and speechless. It certainly was not lost on me that I just had an experience that very few Americans will. This will be one of those great moments in my life.
As I get back to work as a Manager at our hospital, I know there is more work to be done. I just had to tell our team that our prior authorization team will no longer be able to provide the individual numbers on out-of-pocket, deductible met and co-pay information to our patients. We had been using a person full-time for this as a courtesy to our patients. We don’t have room in our budget to hire more prior authorization people to capture the 24-hour turnaround requirements for some prior authorizations to get paid. We were missing out on being compensated for the care we provided. Our full-time person needed to put their efforts into that instead. Yes, we will still find out if their insurance plan covers Cardiac Rehab and will provide our cost per session but that doesn’t give much information and detail to the patient. I hope these insurance companies have good call centers. I am thankful I have a process established by the American College of Cardiology to provide this feedback to our legislators. Thank you to Indiana-ACC for the stipend and the opportunity to advocate for our patients.
Experience from Abby Sikorcin, PA-C
I had a wonderful experience attending the ACC Legislative Conference. It was a fun and rewarding trip to meet other cardiology clinicians from around the USA as well as meet members of the ACC team from Indiana. I particularly enjoyed the day at the Capitol where I had the opportunity to attend meetings to discuss cardiology bills with our Congress and Senate members. As a practicing PA, it was exciting to advocate for the bill allowing PAs to order/refer to cardiac rehab services. It was an enjoyable experience and I hope to continue to attend future ACC meetings to further advocate for my patients at the state and federal level.
