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Arthritis Foundation Arthritis Ambassador Briefing. Dial In: 1-866-487-9460 Conference Code: # 931 709 2991 Materials available for download at http://www.arthritis.org/ambassador_assignment.php. April 2, 2014 3PM Eastern. Agenda.
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Arthritis Foundation Arthritis Ambassador Briefing Dial In: 1-866-487-9460 Conference Code: # 931 709 2991 Materials available for download at http://www.arthritis.org/ambassador_assignment.php April 2, 2014 3PM Eastern
Agenda • Welcome/IntroductionDeah Shaw, Grassroots Advocacy Manager, Arthritis Foundation • Overview of Advocacy Summit Deah Shaw, Grassroots Advocacy Manager, Arthritis Foundation • Overview of Capitol HillKim Beer, Director, Advocacy, Arthritis Foundation • Recruiting E-Advocates at the Walk to Cure Arthritis Amy Barron, Mission Delivery Chair on National WTCA Volunteer Committee • April Ambassador AssignmentDeah Shaw, Grassroots Advocacy Manager, Arthritis Foundation • Q&A
I am Deah… Nice to meet you • Started at AF March 18th, 2014 • Graduate from Michigan State and George Washington University • Worked in member-driven associations throughout professional career
Contact Information Deah Shawdshaw@arthritis.org Direct Line: 202-887-2921 For fastest reply, please email me.
What’s Happening on the Hill? Kim Beer Director, Advocacy
Overview of Advocacy Summit Rep. Vicky Hartzler (MO-04) and AF Advocates • March 24-26 at Capitol Hilton • Over 310 attendees this year • There were 160 (52%) first time attendees • There were 240 Congressional meetings • The 2014 Advocacy Summit was a huge success!
Walk to Cure Arthritis Amy Barron Mission Delivery Chair, National Walk to Cure Arthritis Volunteer Committee
Advocacy Volunteers on Walk Day! • Volunteers are needed in the Advocacy booth at Walk to Cure Arthritis • Goal is to recruit new E-Advocates by signing letter to their Legislators! • Share current Advocacy priority: Research Funding
For more information contact: Amy Barron @ ambarro@fuse.net Sign Up and Fundraise TODAY at www.arthritiswalk.org
April Ambassador Assignment • Ask your Representative to attend a Walk to Cure Arthritis (WTCA) event in your area. • For those Ambassadors who do not have a walk in their area, please complete the following; • Contact your Representative and ask him/her to co-sponsor HR 460, The Patients’ Access to Treatments Act of 2013 (PATA) • Contact your Representative to co-sponsor HR 1827, the Pediatric Subspecialty and Mental Health Workforce Reauthorization Act
Now what? • Visit www.arthritis.org/assignment; • Complete a phone conversation regarding the Walk to Cure Arthritis or ask for co-sponsorship of HR 460 and HR 1827; • Send follow up email after phone conversation/voice mail with applicable staffer; • Copy the draft language into an email to your Representative and edit it to fit your needs; • If you don’t receive a response within 5 business days, follow up with the office again; and • Visit www.arthritis.org/reportand complete an assignment report, with notes for any follow up required. Login: • AdvocateID= your email address • Password=your last name
Start With a Phone Call Good morning/afternoon _________ , My name is ______ and my phone number is ________. I am a constituent of your district. I am calling to encourage the Congressperson to attend the Walk to Cure Arthritis on (day) at (location). The walk begins promptly at (time). It would be great if Representative (last name) or anyone on the staff could attend. Joining us in this walk can make the difference to more than 53 million Americans afflicted with this disease. I am hoping we can count on the Congressperson’s support. I will be following up this voicemail with a email that contains more information. Thank you in advance. Have a great day!
Here’s the Ask (via email) The Honorable (full name) (Room #) (Name) House Office Building United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Honorable (Last Name), Last year the Arthritis Foundation touched the lives of 16 million people with arthritis. Together with our 70,000 advocates we help people with arthritis live better today while searching for cures tomorrow. On behalf of 52 million adults and 300,000 children, I would like to invite you and your staff to join us for Walk to Cure Arthritis. Our walk will be held on (date), at (location) and the walk will start promptly at (time). I hope that you will be able to join us. The Walk to Cure Arthritis is a nationwide walk that raises funds to fight arthritis, the leading cause of disability in the United States. We are asking each participant to commit to the 5K or take more than 910,000,000 steps. Every step counts and every dollar matters! As you know, there are more xxxxx adults and xxxx children afflicted with some form of arthritis in our state. Thank you for considering our request. If you should have any questions or concerns do not hesitate to contact (name of walk coordinator), (name of city) Walk Coordinator at (add phone number). We look forward to working with you and your office. Hope to see you (add date)! Thank you, [your name] [your address] [your phone and email]
HR 460- PATA • Bi-partisan legislation • Helps to eliminate specialty tiers that can cost patients hundreds to thousands/monthly • If enacted, it would raise insurance premiums by only $3/year
HR 1827- Support Access to Pediatric Rheumatologists • Due to scarcity, 75% of all JA patients see pediatricians or adult rheumatologists • Seeks to incentivize training and practice in pediatric medical subspecialties (ex: pediatric rheumatology • 11 states do not have a single board-certified, practicing rheumatologist and 7 states just have one.
Call Your HLA Good morning/afternoon _________ , My name is ______ and my phone number is ________. I am a constituent of your district. I am calling to encourage the Congressperson co-sponsor HR 460, the Patients’ Access to Treatment and HR 1827, the Pediatric Subspecialty and Mental Health Workforce Reauthorization Act. As one of the 53 million adults living with arthritis, I would like to encourage Representative (last name) to co-sponsor HR 460. This bill would help eliminate “specialty tiers” in commercial health plans and could cut costs by hundreds or thousands of dollars a month for people just like me. Additionally, I would like to Representative (last name) to also co-sponsor HR 1827. There are less than 250 board-certified practicing pediatric rheumatologists to care for the 300,000 children living with arthritis currently. Due to scarcity, 75% of juvenile arthritis patients are forced to see a physician that is not adequately trained to care for children. We are hoping the Representative co-sponsors this legislation that seeks to incentivize training and practice of pediatric rheumatologists. I will be following up this voicemail with a email that contains more information. Thank you in advance. Have a great day.
Roadmap of 2014 • Discussion(s) on how to make the most of being an AF Ambassador • More expert trainings
2014 Ambassador Briefing Schedule Ambassador Briefings will take place at 3PM Eastern on the following dates: May 7, 2014 July 16, 2014 September 3, 2014 November 5, 2014