Dear Telehealth Supporter:

Many of you already know about an ongoing grassroots push to increase funding for the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth (OAT) in Fiscal Year 2009 (FY) 2009. In an effort to an increase OAT funding from $6.8 million to $13.8 million in FY 2009, individuals and organizations from across the telehealth community are coming together to urge Congress to give telehealth the federal support it deserves.

Last year, a similar grassroots effort resulted in the Senate voting to approve an amendment boosting OAT funding from $6.8 million to $13.8 million.  While this increase was unfortunately not retained in compromise negotiations with the House of Representatives, the Senate vote was proof that Congress will act to support telehealth when they hear from constituents in their states and districts.

With this in mind, we believe that now is the time to again reach out to Congress and urge that telehealth receive the support it deserves.  A $13.8 million budget for OAT will significantly advance telehealth in the United States. If you support this increase, we ask that you join a sign-on letter supporting this level, which will be sent to the Senate subcommittee that has jurisdiction over OAT appropriations. Nearly 600 of you signed a similar letter last year, and we hope to be able to show Congress an even higher level of support this year. Text of the letter can be found below.

If you are willing to have your name added to the list of those supporting an increase in telehealth funding, please complete the below forms and click "Submit Form".  If you encounter technical difficulties, please simply email your name, title, organization and address to 2009OATfunding@telehealthleadership.org.

Robert Waters
Partner and Chair, Telehealth, E-Health Law & Government Relations Groups
Drinker, Biddle & Reath

Dear Chairman Harkin and Ranking Member Specter:

On behalf of the individuals and telehealth organizations listed below and the communities that we represent, we are writing to thank you for your ongoing support of telehealth programs and to urge you to support a funding level of $13.8 million for telehealth activities in the fiscal year (FY) 2009 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations (Labor-HHS) bill. Although the full Senate agreed to this amount by unanimous consent during floor consideration of the FY 2008 Labor-HHS bill, in conference negotiations with the House of Representatives this funding level was cut to $6.7 million.

Increasing funding to $13.8 million will help to fund many important services that offer underserved and hard to reach communities increased access to quality healthcare services. It will allow the Department of Health and Human Services to expand support for telehealth grant opportunities for demonstrations and model projects. In addition, it will provide continued support for telehealth resource centers, telehealth and telehomecare pilot projects, and grants to state health licensing boards.

Increasing funding for telehealth grants is essential to the long-term sustainability of telehealth projects, improving access in underserved areas of the country, and addressing critical clinical shortages that are occurring throughout the U.S., particularly in rural areas. While this increase represents a relatively small amount of money for this very important purpose, without this support, the ability to provide telehealth services in this country will be severely compromised. The increased support for these telehealth programs will help to ensure that underserved Americans have access to primary and specialty health care when and where they need it.

Thank you for your support of this important issue. Should you have any questions or need more information about the telehealth services provided throughout the country or in your state, please do not hesitate to contact any of the individuals or organizations listed below.

The undersigned support an increase in programmatic funding for the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth: