Contact Your Elected Officials

Contact Your Elected Officials

Contacting your elected officials is an important way consumers can let their voices be heard about health care concerns and reform issues.  How should you begin?  It is easy!  Start with USA.gov to find federal and state officials.  If you aren’t sure who the elected officials are in your district, you can find out here.

You can write to your officials or set up a meeting with them.   Not sure where to begin?  Review our Tips for Writing to Elected Officials and Tips for an Effective Meeting. 

State Elected Officials

Contact information for Maryland legislators can be found on the General Assembly of Maryland website.  You can search for legislators by name, Senate or House, committee, district, and county. 

Legislators usually respond to letters from their own constituents and prefer personal letters to form letters.  

The House Health and Government Operations Committee and the Senate Finance Committee are the committees in the Maryland General Assembly that frequently hear and make decisions about health care related issues.  It is useful to develop lines of communication with legislators on these committees and their staffs.

Federal Elected Officials

You can also contact your federal officials about key health policy issues. There are several ways to contact officials at the federal level.

President

Call, fax, or e-mail your comments about a particular health care issue to the White House: phone: (202) 456-1111; fax: (202) 456-2461; e-mail: President@WhiteHouse.gov.

Representative or Senator

  • Write or call your members of Congress. To reach Washington, DC Capitol Hill Offices, call (202) 224-3121.
  • E-mail is also an effective way to communicate with representatives in Congress and other appointed and elected officials. E-mail addresses can be found online at http://www.senate.gov/ or http://www.house.gov/.
  • Set up a meeting with your Representative or Senator during one of their home visits to discuss your community or issues of specific concern. Be prepared to provide reasonable and actionable strategies for your Congressperson to consider. 
  • Develop lines of communication with congressional staff who oversee the office’s health policy and public health initiatives. 

  • When writing members of the U.S. Congress, it is usually best to write only to the Representatives and Senators from your district or state. Mass-mailings to all Members of Congress rarely have much impact.