United We Must Stand

The American Association for Homecare's membership is opposed to competition that is unfair and unreasonable. Our providers, large and small, fight for the opportunity to serve patients each and every day in their communities. Home care, one of the most competitive segments of health care, is not for the faint-at-heart.

Let's remember that opportunity and choice are at the heart of democracy in this country. Regarding competition in home care, Les DeFelice, AAHomecare board member and president and CEO of West Virginia-based DeFelice Care Inc., said, “A competitive environment results in the best possible care for the patients we serve. As providers, competing with each other, we should not be afraid to say, ‘Bring it on!’”

AAHomecare opposes national competitive bidding — or more accurately, “restrictive contracting.” NCB is anti-competitive by its very design and does not allow any willing provider to compete in the bidding process. Each of us should take every opportunity to do what we can to stop the harmful effects that NCB will inflict on the home care community.

In a recent article on competitive bidding, Karyn Estrella, executive director of the New England Medical Equipment Dealers Association, referenced the Benjamin Franklin quote, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” This could not be more true in home care, especially as we face competitive bidding.

Many components, working in sync with one another, must go into any effective strategy for competitive bidding. To begin, it makes sense to determine the maneuverability of the policy and to locate the various points in the timeline at which to supply input or apply pressure in Washington.

Proposed solutions on the table have included a legislative fix, further work with CMS and seeking to delay NCB implementation. If we are truly to impact an issue that is so critical to the home care community, we should look at it from every angle.

At AAHomecare we are working with a strategic team on a timeline for competitive bidding that has been in play since the passage of the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA).