Features
Medicare's Saviors?
Like eager boy scouts who offer to usher an elderly woman across the street, federal lawmakers are lining up to guide Medicare into the 21st Century. The Democrats are reporting that, while the elderly woman would like to have help with her grocery bag, she otherwise is “just fine, thank you.” Republicans are insisting that, without substantial help, the elderly woman might never make it across the street.
Both parties are promising to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, but Republicans say that radical reform must accompany any such benefit. Away from the glare of television-camera lights, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle admit that budget cuts are inevitable.
If history has taught the home medical equipment industry anything, it is that Congress most likely will look to HME for cuts. Fortunately, the industry has laid the groundwork for a lively debate, and HME advocates say they are ready for the challenge.
Against this backdrop of uncertainty, state governments are experiencing the worst budget shortfalls since World War II, according to the National Governors Association. The economic downturn is causing Medicaid rosters to swell, even as tax revenues dwindle. Like their federal counterparts, however, state HME-industry leaders are prepared for a struggle. Armed with proposals to help state legislators find mutually agreeable savings, they are determined to avoid such pitfalls as competitive bidding.
Imagine a long, narrow table, balancing on the tip of a pair of scissors. Stacked at one side of the table are about 76 million baby boomers, ready to hit retirement age; 40 million seniors calling for a Medicare prescription drug benefit; thousands of doctors begging for a boost in reimbursements; a few hundred military commanders decked-out in war attire; and a smattering of Wall Street analysts, shaking their heads in dismay.
At the other side of the table is a heavy stack of documents, including the budget allocations for every single government program, from Head Start to Medicare.
Surprisingly, the documents are dragging the left side of the table down, throwing the whole delicate arrangement out of balance.
The challenge, for the 108th Congress, is to move the scissors to the left — to cut government spending just enough to compensate for the burden that a looming war, prescription drugs, provider give-backs and a lagging economy are placing on the federal budget.
