Texas Association for Home Care & Hospice joins national effort to support millions of homebound voters

Austin, TX – The Texas Association for Home Care & Hospice (TAHC&H) today announced it will be participating in Bring the Vote Home - a nationwide initiative to help homebound seniors and persons with disabilities that have difficulty travelling to polling places during the 2012 election cycle.  The campaign is being launched in partnership with other state home health care associations and national home health leaders to engage the nation’s 12 million home health care patients – including 3.5 million Medicare beneficiaries – via voter and absentee ballot registration initiatives.

“We are proud to be participating in Bring the Vote Home on behalf of the homebound patients our members serve who would otherwise not have the resources or ability to vote in this year’s election,” said Rachel Hammon, executive director of TAHC&H, which represents more than 1300 licensed home and community support services agencies across Texas that provide home health, hospice, and personal assistance services to persons of all ages.  “Our goal is to facilitate and aid in the process of voter and absentee ballot registration so that these important constituents can raise awareness about the issues our state’s seniors and persons with disabilities care about most.”

As part of the initiative, the home health care community is launching a new website, www.bringthevotehome.org, which offers state-specific information and instructions for voter and absentee ballot registration.  In addition, home health caregivers will directly assist patients and their families in the registration process. Texas’ home health care community cares for more than 525,000 senior, disabled and chronically ill patients each year.  This includes 375,000 Medicare beneficiaries who receive clinically advanced, cost-effective care in the home setting. Many health care treatments that were once only offered in a hospital or a physician's office can now be safely, effectively and efficiently provided in patients' homes by skilled clinicians.

“Home health patients across Texas, who are primarily seniors and persons with disabilities, are particularly interested in how our state’s elected officials will stand up for the issues that impact their health care, and this election cycle will be no different,” said Hammon. “We are honored to bring a voice to those homebound individuals who would otherwise remain silent during the election due to their health and mobility. Everyone affected by our nation’s health care system should have a vote.” 

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Bring the Vote Home is a nationwide citizenship project coordinated by the Council of State Home Care Associations, Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare, and other home health community members to help America’s approximately 12 million home healthcare patients, including 3.5 Medicare beneficiaries, and more than 1.1 million skilled healthcare professionals exercise their right to vote in national and state elections this November.  To learn more, visit www.bringthevotehome.org.

The Texas Association for Home Care & Hospice Inc. is a statewide nonprofit trade organization whose mission is to advocate for ethical practices, quality and economic viability of licensed providers of home and community support services in Texas.  For more information, visit www.tahch.org.