Legislative visits are one of the most effective ways to build support for legislation that matters to the PH community.

Reach out to your legislators directly. Start by looking up your representative and senators. You will find their names and phone numbers for their Washington and home district offices.

Or contact us to help you schedule a virtual meeting. Fill out our form to schedule an online visit or call 301-565-3004, ext. 758 to request help setting up a meeting.

Whether your advocacy visit is in person or online, your meeting will likely be with a legislative assistant who focuses on health issues. Legislative assistants are knowledgeable, dedicated and worth talking to about PH. Don’t be disappointed if you meet with a legislative assistant rather than your senator or representative.

Begin with a thank you. Legislative staff are busy, so it’s important to acknowledge their time.

Introduce yourself. Share your name, where you’re from and your connection to PH (e.g., patient, caregiver, health care professional). Briefly explain PH and share examples from your experience related to PHA’s key requests.

Request a photo. For in-person meetings, it’s OK to ask whether your member of Congress is available to take a picture with you. The photo will give you a few minutes of face time and a souvenir from your visit.

State your request. Depending on time, you will make between one and three asks, based on PHA’s legislative priorities. Before the visit, check whether your lawmaker has cosponsored relevant bills. If so, thank them for supporting the bill without going into detail about it. If they haven’t cosponsored, talk about the bill’s benefits and explain how it could make a difference to you, a loved one or others in the PH community. Note their answer and share it with PHA.

Emphasize the PH community’s reach. Mention that you are one of many members of the PH community. Explain that PH may be a rare disease, but its impact is wide-reaching. In addition to patients, PH affects caregivers, loved ones and health care professionals.

Take notes. Write down questions from the legislative assistant or lawmaker and take notes during the visit. Note any questions you couldn’t answer, and tell them PHA will follow up with more information. Afterward, send your meeting notes to a PHA staff member.

Restate your requests and end with another thank you.

Send a thank you note no more than two days after your meeting.

After a month, check whether they have co-sponsored the bill(s) you discussed. If they still aren’t a cosponsor, call or email to follow up.

Subject line: Thank you for our meeting

Dear [legislative staffer’s name] or [Senator/Representative ____],

It was a pleasure to meet with you on [meeting date]. I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with me.

As I mentioned, pulmonary hypertension is a progressive, incurable and potentially fatal lung disease. Countless people may have pulmonary hypertension and not know it due to improper diagnosis. Though there is no cure for pulmonary hypertension, there is hope, thanks to increasing research and new treatments.

[Restate your ask(s)]

I urge you to show your support of [the bill or bills discussed in the meeting] by cosponsoring [it/ them].

I appreciate your support .

 

Sincerely,

[Your name]

[Your telephone number]

[Your e-mail address]

My name is _____. I am calling to follow up after my meeting with [name of elected official or staff member]. We met on [meeting date].

I wanted to thank [name of elected official or staffer] once again for their time and remind them of the importance of the [bill(s) you discussed].

Has [name of elected official] decided whether to co-sponsor the bill? Please let me know in writing where [he/she] stands on the issue so I can share it with other members of the PH community.

My address is ______ and my phone number is _______.

Thank you.