The American Association for Respiratory Care is a strong advocate for the respiratory care profession, our respiratory therapist members, and patients who suffer from chronic respiratory disease. We are supporting multiple legislative initiatives that increase the visibility of respiratory therapists and highlight their skills and expertise in patient care and need your help!

Note: At the beginning of 2020, we advocated for H.R. 4945, the Safeguarding Medicare Access to Respiratory Therapy (SMART) Act to remove noninvasive ventilators as a product category subject to competitive bidding effective Jan. 1, 2021 and to update ventilator coverage policies. CMS has chosen to remove noninvasive ventilators from competitive bidding for the Calendar Year 2021 round. Consequently, we have removed the bill from our Take Action page. We will continue to work with stakeholders on updating ventilator policies. This is a win for AARC, respiratory therapists, and for individuals in need of ventilatory support in the home.

You can help support our efforts by reviewing the legislative initiatives that are most important to the Association and sending messages to your Members of Congress. Co-sponsorship of important legislation is critical to moving it through the legislative process and your participation makes a difference.