H.R. 4662

Dear Members of the Lymphedema Community,

This is a historic time for the lymphedema community nationwide. Legislative bill H.R. 4662 entitled "Lymphedema Diagnosis and Treatment Cost Saving Act of 2010" has been introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Larry Kissell of North Carolina. The bill has been co-sponsored by:

Congressman Ron Paul (R)	- Texas	Congressman Michael Honda (D)	- California
Congressman Phil Roe (R)	- Tennessee	Congressman Peter Hoekstra (R)	- Michigan
Congressman Howard Coble (R)	- North Carolina	Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D)	- Texas
Congressman Barney Frank (D)	- Massachusetts	Delegate Donna Christensen (D)	- Virgin Islands
Delegate Eleanor Norton (D)	- District of Columbia	Congressman Thomas Latham (R)	- Iowa
Congressman Sanford Bishop, Jr. (D)	- Georgia	Congressman Dennis Moore (D)	- Kansas
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D)	- Florida	Congressman Steve Cohen (D)	- Tennessee
Congressman Steven Rothman (D)	- New Jersey	Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D)	- Maryland
Congressman Howard Berman (D)	- California	Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D)	- Minnesota
Congressman Keith Ellison (D)	- Minnesota	Congressman Peter King (R)	- New York
Congressman Erik Paulsen (R)	- Minnesota	Congressman Frederick Boucher (D)	- Virginia
Congressman Raul Grijalva (D)	- Arizona	Congressman David Price (D)	- North Carolina
Congressman David Loebsack (D)	- Iowa	Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D)	- California
Congressman Bradley Miller (D)	- North Carolina	Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D)	- Oregon
Congressman Elijah Cummings (D)	- Maryland	Congressman John Barrow (D)	- Georgia
Congresswoman Kathleen Dahlkemper (D)	- Pennsylvania	Congressman Michael Arcuri (D)	- New York
Congressman Gerald Connolly (D)	- Virginia	Congressman Victor Snyder (D)	- Arkansas
Congressman Kendrick Meek (D)	- Florida	Congressman Dale Kildee (D)	- Michigan
Congresswoman Grace Napolitano (D)	- California	Congresswoman Eddie Johnson (D)	- Texas
Congressman Rush Holt (D)	- New Jersey	Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D)	- California
Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D)	- California	Congresswoman Corrine Brown (D)	- Florida
Congressman Christopher Lee (R)	- New York	Congressman Timothy Walz (D)	- Minnesota
Congressman Christopher Smith (R)	- New Jersey

The bill was written by NLN Legislative Advocate Bob Weiss. During the past few months he has worked closely with a Congressional Legislative Counsel and Congressman Kissell to re-work the text. At the same time many thanks are owed to Heather Ferguson, a young mom from North Carolina who was instrumental in securing coverage for treatment of lymphedema in North Carolina and subsequently convinced Congressman Kissell to sponsor this bill at the national level.

The bill has the goal of reducing total healthcare costs through avoidance of periodic infections, pain, and disabilities resulting from lymphedema. Specific goals of the bill are:

to provide diagnosis and treatment of individuals with and at risk for lymphedema according to current medical treatment standards, including manual lymph drainage, compression bandages, garments, devices, and exercise
to enhance quality of lymphedema patient care by providing therapist qualification requirements
to provide for lymphedema patient education in the procedures for self-treatment so as to transfer the treatment from the clinical to the home setting
to encourage patient self-treatment plan adherence by providing necessary medical supplies for use at home
to expand patient access to qualified lymphedema therapy by extending coverage to qualified, trained lymphedema therapists who may practice under a qualified physician, physical therapist, or occupational therapist

We invite you to download a copy of the bill here:

We encourage you to contact your local Representatives and Senators. Please urge them to co-sponsor H.R. 4662 and to introduce a similar bill in the Senate. Please stress the fact that this bill is projected to save hundreds of millions of dollars every year in avoidance of costs of treating preventable lymphedema-related cellulitis. This is a quality of care issue affecting insured patients and is complementary to healthcare access issues. Time is of the essence for you who have had difficulty in obtaining proper lymphedema treatment for yourselves or your patients. We may never have a better opportunity!

You may find your Congressional Representatives and Senators here:

You may download a sample letter to send to your Representatives and Senators here:

After writing to your Congressional Representatives and Senators, we encourage you to forward a copy of your letters to the NLN (National Lymphedema Network) and they will send a follow up letter to your Representatives and/or Senators for additional support. They will copy you on the correspondence. You may contact the NLN via email here:

We hope you will take the very important action of supporting this milestone in lymphedema treatment.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

The Norton School of Lymphatic Therapy
Lymphedema Products, LLC