Asheville, N.C.

At the annual Leadership Conference, members of the American Association for Homecare elected David Savitsky of Tender Loving Care Services, Lake Success, N.Y., as chairman of the association.

Other new officers are Steve Knoll, vice chair, Knoll Patient Supply, Topeka, Kan.; Joel Mills, secretary, Advanced Home Care, Greensboro, N.C.; and Larry Higby, treasurer, Apria Healthcare Group, Costa Mesa, Calif. Don White, Associated Healthcare Systems, Buffalo, N.Y., is the immediate past chair.

Savitsky said that building a voice on Capitol Hill is paramount for the association and the home care industry. Toward that end, he outlined five top agenda items, including:

• Approval of a consumer price index adjustment for home medical equipment and services because of “sky-rocketing” labor and fuel costs;

• Eliminating the 15 percent cut in home health reimbursement by holding Congress to its promise that the $13 billion set aside in the budget resolution for elimination of the cut actually gets used for that purpose;

• Continuing, in regard to the average wholesale pricing debate, to educate policy makers about the true value and cost of prescription infusion and respiratory drugs;

• Ensuring that the Health Care Financing Administration uses reliable data and seeks public comment before setting reimbursement under inherent reasonableness;

• Continuing to push for Medicare reform that provides patient access, choice, fairness and accessibility to health care services at home.

The conference, which was attended by representatives from all segments of the industry from providers to consultants and manufacturers, also featured keynote speaker David Chin discussing the forces shaping health care and a panel on technology and the industry.