Following the election of Donald Trump two years ago, all eyes are on the mid-term elections this November to see whether there will be a “blue wave” as voters swing in the opposite direction or if the election of further conservative representatives will indicate a true shift in national ideology.

Thirty-three of 100 Senate seats and all 435 seats in the House of Representatives are on the ballot in November. A near-record number of current members of Congress are retiring or otherwise not running for re-election- as of June, 60 members of the House and several key Senators. This all adds up to a lot of excitement and potential change.  Luckily, most of BAYADA’s key Champions are interested in returning to Congress.

The US BAYADA PAC Board, together with BAYADA’s federal lobbyist, have developed the strategy of making large contributions to a small number of candidates. US BAYADA PAC, on the federal stage, is on the smaller side. Building a strong relationship with legislators in positions of authority on the few committees that directly impact our clients, our employees, and our mission is the most important thing we can do to be good stewards of BAYADA employees’ contributions and trust.

US BAYADA PAC is a nonpartisan group, supporting candidates based on their understanding of and support for BAYADA’s clients, our employees and our mission. We aim to support members of varied political party affiliations but base decisions primarily on each individual’s actions and support of home health care.

So far this year, BAYADA PAC has supported:

• Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), a national leader on healthcare issues and key swing vote on multiple attempts to gut Medicaid last year.
• Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), who represents more than 14,000 BAYADA clients and is a stalwart champion of home health care.
• Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), a national leader on healthcare issues including the multiple attempts to gut Medicaid last year and the Ranking Member on the Senate Committee on Finance, Subcommittee on Health Care. She has met with BAYADA and has spoken with multiple home health care industry groups this year.
• Representative Tom MacArthur (R-NJ 3), who represents BAYADA HQ and has a long relationship with BAYADA.
• Representative Vern Buchanan (R-FL 16), who has a deep affection for hospice care and is influential behind the scenes in the House Committee on Ways and Means.
• Representative Joe Kennedy (D-MA 4), a rising leader in the House, a key member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Health Subcommittee, which debates our issues, and a strong supporter of healthcare.

In addition to our work directly with individual candidates, we have contributed US BAYADA PAC funds as part of our work with and leadership of two national home health care partnerships: the Partnership for Quality Home Health, which deals with Medicare issues, and the Partnership for Medicaid Home-based Care. These two partnerships pull together home health care providers, trade association leaders and insurance companies to advocate with one voice for the good of our clients and for good policy to keep home health care a sustainable, growing industry.