Mission Statement

NAHC is the largest and most respected professional association representing the interests of Americans who need home care (including acute, long-term, and terminal care) and the caregivers that provide them with in-home health and supportive services.

NAHC is a unique trade association for several reasons. First, it reflects its membership inputting the interests of the infirm and dying before its institutional or corporate interests. It represents the interests of those Americans described as being on the "fringes of life"--the elderly and terminally ill facing compound problems of illness in the twilight of life, millions of fragile children with major health problems in the dawn of life, and the disabled and sick, who are too often relegated to the shadows of life. Second, it aspires to excellence in every respect. Third, it goes to extraordinary lengths to support the specific needs of its member organizations. Fourth, it understands that its specific mission must be achieved in cooperation with other organizations and individuals. Toward this end, NAHC is committed to improving the quality of life for all Americans.

NAHC is committed to a series of values from which its specific objectives follow. These values are the following:

NAHC is committed to the development of a more caring society in the belief that the solution of most human problems lies in the love and understanding of one human being for another.

NAHC is committed to preserving the solidarity of families, the fundamental building block of society.

NAHC is committed to preserving the rights of the underprivileged, ill, and disabled.

NAHC is committed to the protection of the environment.

NAHC is committed to promotion of honesty, integrity, and quality in all aspects of society.

NAHC is committed to the promotion of wellness and health and the universal right of access to the highest quality of health care and supportive services for all.

NAHC is committed to justice--social, economic, and political for all citizens.

NAHC's specific mission involves the following 15 purposes, to:

a. Serve as the unified voice for the home care and hospice community;

b. Provide direct needed service to the members;

c. Heighten the political viability of home care and hospice interests;

d. Influence the legislative, judicial, and regulatory processes with respect to issues of importance to hospice and home care;

e. Sponsor research, gather and disseminate home care and hospice data;

f. Promote home care and hospice as a viable component of the health delivery system;

g. Foster, develop, and promote high standards of patient care in home care and hospice services;

h. Provide expert business advice and assistance to members with respect to management, legal, or operational issues, and help connect them with consumers;

i. Disseminate information to the media and the general public to promote the acceptance of home care and hospice services and to support family/informal caregivers;

j. Expand private health insurance and other third party sources for financing hospice and home care services;

k. Promote collaboration among national, state, and local organizations relating to home care and hospice services and issues;

l. Initiate, sponsor, and promote educational programs;

m. Represent the interests of caregivers (nurses, homemaker-home health aides, physicians, and therapists) who work in the home care field and to encourage individuals to choose a career in home care and hospice services;

n. Protect the legal rights of hospice and home care beneficiaries and those of the organizations and their employees who provide consumers with such services; and

o. Promote independence and contribution by potential home care clients, thereby shattering the myth that dependence is a necessary state for the aged and disabled in America.

NAHC's mission can be summarized in one line: "We are bringing health care back home where it belongs."

In a 1995 survey of key Senators and staff members by the respected international marketing firm, Fleishman Hillard & Associates, NAHC was selected as the best and most respected trade association in the health care field. NAHC's goal is to advance and build on this achievement and to be the best example of a trade association in Washington, DC. NAHC currently represents some 6,000 members that include home care agencies, hospices and the professionals such as home care nurses and aides who are employed by these agencies.

NAHC has many specific goals that are enumerated within this programmatic budget. However, its top priorities remain helping people who depend on home care by protecting Medicare and Medicaid and other government programs from erosion; moving to expand these programs and private health insurance to provide greater coverage including assistance with long-term care; helping to increase the numbers and the qualifications of people seeking employment in the home care field; and to support and inspire those who are currently in the field.