Support HR 2619 & Join the COPD Caucus

We, the undersigned, are concerned citizens who urge our US Representatives for their support of HR 2619, the Medicare Respiratory Therapists Access Act and to join the COPD Caucus.  We urge our US Senators for their support for the introduction of a Senate companion bill to HR 2619, the Medicare Respiratory Therapists Access Act and to join the COPD Caucus.

HR 2619 would change the Medicare law to allow certain highly qualified respiratory therapists to provide much needed pulmonary self-management education and training services to Medicare patients who suffer from certain chronic lung diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, and asthma when they go to visit their doctor in his or her office. If Medicare makes this change, it would allow greater flexibility for the doctor to delegate services to the respiratory therapist under his or her supervision who can provide patients with the tools they need to take care of themselves.  Knowing how busy doctors are, we believe the assistance from respiratory therapists in educating and training patients what they need to know to recognize symptoms and triggers of their pulmonary disease can help them stay healthier and prevent them from having to be admitted or readmitted to a hospital.  Please support HR 2619 so patients with Pulmonary Disease get the tools they need from respiratory therapists to manage their own disease. By joining the Congressional COPD Caucus you will be showing your support for the 24 million Americans with COPD.  The COPD Caucus is proud to be a bipartisan, bicameral caucus co-chaired by Senators Mike Crapo and Dick Durbin and Representatives John Lewis and David Joyce.  The COPD Caucus has a strong record of introducing, supporting, and passing legislation that improves the lives of those with COPD and reduces the burden of COPD in the United States.

The National Institutes of Health estimates that 12 million adults have COPD and another 12 million are undiagnosed or developing COPD and the CDC has recently named COPD as the third leading cause of death in the United States, twelve years before predicted. The economic burden of COPD to society, in medical costs and lost productivity, is substantial at $49.9 billion in 2010. Despite these staggering statistics, COPD remains a disease largely unrecognized on a national level.

By joining the COPD Caucus you will demonstrate your commitment to making COPD a national health priority. Please support HR 2619 so patients with Pulmonary Disease get the tools they need from respiratory therapists to manage their disea