How to Support the Federal Acupuncture Coverage Act of 2005 (HR 818)

By Robert E. Marcus, J. D., Marcus & Associates

Have you visited the “Co-sponsors” link on CAOMA's “Medicare Page?”  If not, please click onto that link for an updated list of current co-sponsors of the Federal Acupuncture Coverage Act of 2005.  There you can see if your congressman or congresswoman is a co-sponsor of H. R. 818, and when they signed on.

If your representative is already a co-sponsor, we encourage you to thank them by letter and/or by e-mail.  If you don't know who your representative is, you can find out and how to contact them, by going to Find Your Representative and entering your zip code on the official government website.
    
If your representative is not a co-sponsor of H. R. 818, please see the HR 818 Text link, so you can read the bill.  We encourage you then, if you'd like to support the passage of H. R. 1477, to send your representative a constituent letter with some of your own “personal testimonial experiences with acupuncture.”

Your constituent letter is extremely important, indeed essential, in generating the grassroots support needed to achieve a critical threshold of one-hundred co-sponsors that will open the door to H. R. 818 being scheduled for a hearing, mark-up and a vote in the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health.  Once H. R. 818 is reported by the full Committee on Energy and Commerce, that will set the stage for the Hinchey Bill to go to the Rules Committee, and ultimately to the floor of the House for a vote.

Sample Letter to Your Congressional Representative:

Sample Letter of Support for HR 818

Contact Your Representative, and Contact Our Lobbyist

If you contact your Congressional Representative, and/or his or her staff, and/or you write your Representative a constituent letter, please contact me by e-mail at marcus_associates@yahoo.com, or telephone at (276) 492-8098, or write Marcus & Associates, 731 Westholme Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90024, and let me know with whom you spoke, and how it went, so I can follow-up with your representative's Health Aide in Washington, D. C.

    
Marcus & Associates will be contacting District Point People who will be personally lobbying their representatives who are not yet co-sponsors of H. R. 818.  If you are not currently a District Point Person, and you'd like to lobby your representative, in his or her district office, to co-sponsor H. R. 818, educate them a bit about the benefits of Oriental medicine, and/or offer them, and/or their staff, an acupuncture treatment, please contact me at my e-mail address or postal address, and/or telephone me, so I can contact you, send you state and national materials on acupuncture and Oriental medicine, and facilitate a scheduled appointment between you and your representative.

In meeting with your Member of Congress, and/or his or her staff, you will generally find that they will be receptive regarding the Federal Acupuncture Coverage Act, particularly since the bill provides greater healthcare choices for constituents who are Medicare beneficiaries and/or federal employees.

In his “Dear Colleague Letter,” which Rep. Hinchey recently sent out to Members of the House, he stated, “Americans care deeply about the right to choose their health care providers and the ability to control their own medical decisions.  Acupuncture and other complementary treatments should be among the choices available to consumers.  The Federal Acupuncture Coverage Act would make that a reality for the 48 million Americans covered by Medicare and the Federal Employees Health Benefits plan.”

Making Contributions to the MediCare Campaign

To make real the vitally important goal of achieving passage of H. R. 1477, a contribution to the CAOMA MediCare Fund, or to Marcus & Associates of $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, $1,000 or any amount will be greatly appreciated.

In response to donations totalling $5,500 by any individual or organizations, Marcus & Associates must register with the Clerk of the House and the Clerk of the Senate as a lobbyist for those large contributors within a six-months.  

Download a Fundraising Flyer for the Acupuncture MediCare Campaign

Contributions should be made payable to:

CAOMA MediCare Fund 1217 Washington Street Calistoga, CA 94515

Marcus & Associates 731 Westholme Avenue Los Angeles, California 90024