Will a New Congress Reshuffle the Deck?

Fee schedules, rental caps, competitive bidding. These issues were on the minds of home medical equipment providers when 2006 began. They were still there as the year drew to a close.

But in one important way, 2006 ended on a decidedly different note. The November elections changed the shape of Congress, putting Democrats firmly in charge of the House of Representatives and narrowly in control of the Senate.

It's not clear how the world of home care and related businesses will be affected, but one thing is certain: Leaders of the new Congress have waited through 12 years of Republican rule for a chance to do things their way. One of the last things they want is the status quo.

The Democratic takeover comes at a time when HME is looking for friends. The industry has weathered a bad year of close calls on the reimbursement front, taking hits in oxygen and power mobility but fending off much harsher proposed cuts. And stakeholders are still wondering how DME competitive bidding will turn out.

So the question is, “Will the new Congress be friendlier than the last?”

The early take from investors is optimistic, judging from the stock prices of leading HME businesses. In just the five weeks following the election, share prices of two of the largest nationals, Lincare Holdings and Apria Healthcare Group, rose more than 10 percent, while the stock market as a whole edged up by only 2 percent.

Wall Street may not have been making an expressly political statement, but it was more positive on HME in the last two months of 2006 than it had been for some time.

Industry advocates also sound a hopeful tone. The American Association for Homecare's Tyler Wilson, president and CEO, says the power shift offers home care “the chance for a fresh start.”

Although a number of industry supporters were defeated in the elections, HME gained some newcomers familiar with the industry. Wilson notes that three new House members — John Yarmuth, D-Ky.; Nick Lampson, D-Texas; and David Davis, R-Tenn. — have worked for or owned home care companies.

There's another important change on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., replaces California Republican Bill Thomas as chairman. As opposed to Thomas — blamed for pushing through the competitive bidding mandate in the Medicare Modernization Act and for the Deficit Reduction Act's oxygen cap — Wilson says Rangel has pledged to work with the home care community.