Drs. Alli Totzke-Hitzeroth and Sarahfina Wipf joined me Aug. 25 on Capitol Hill to lobby for support of the Chiropractic Medicare Coverage Modernization Act, H.R. 1610/S. 799.
Although Congress was not in session at the time, this was one of the few days we were all able to get together given our busy schedules. While we did not meet with the Virginia representatives themselves, we did get to see their staffers, some of whom we had met in January during Lobby Day at Engage 2023. Meeting them in person again — in addition to our email correspondence since January — was imperative to building a relationship, which we hope will lead to co-sponsorship of this important legislation.
With Congress being out of session, the Hill certainly looked very different from when we were last here in January. The halls were mostly empty, the August sun was beaming, and there was a surprising number of dogs in the congressional offices!
We had appointments with the staffers of seven different representatives. The meeting that stood out from the others was with Rep. Jennifer Kiggans’ staffer. This was because the week before our visit, Kiggans had just become the first Virginian co-signer to H.R. 1610! Since our meeting with her was already scheduled prior to her signing, our conversation took a slightly different direction. It was truly energizing to discuss our shared passion for access to health care and combating the opioid epidemic. We look forward to continued support for chiropractic from Rep. Kiggans in the future.
In addition to our congressional meetings, we distributed 100 handwritten thank you cards to the current cosigners of H.R. 1610. We wanted to show encouragement and gratitude to those who have helped this bill gain traction faster than it ever has in the past.
It was a very productive day on the Hill that left us optimistic about the future of this bill. We wanted to take advantage of our proximity to the Capitol and see if we could get more Virginians behind H.R. 1610. We hope our efforts will help to move this bill forward with even more support.
We are looking forward to continuing the conversation at the next ACA Lobby Day in January 2024!
Dr. Ortega is an ACA member and also serves as the association’s Virginia delegate. She practices in Fredericksburg, Va.
Editor’s note: Interested in participating in the next Lobby Day? Registration for Engage 2024, which takes place Jan. 24-27 in Washington, D.C., is now open. For meeting details, click here.
