How I Spent My Summer Vacation

We'd had the reservations for months. My whole family was getting together. We'd picked out a great condo right on the beach. We would be there to watch the fireworks sparkle down on the waves July 4. Did I mention we were headed to the Gulf?

There was the oil spill, but what's a little oil, we said? Then Hurricane Alex kicked up, but what's a little wind, we said? Besides, my favorite Parrothead Jimmy Buffett was giving a free concert on the beach for 35,000 of his closest friends, and we were lucky enough to score tickets.

Then CMS ditched a reported June 25 deadline for release of the Round 1 bid rates, and my summer vacation suddenly went south. I spent the entire drive there checking every voice message and email. I sat in the condo glued to my laptop for the next several days so I wouldn't miss the announcement when CMS made it.

Outside, oil had hit the pristine sands, and cleanup workers, some in Hazmat suits, were sweeping and shoveling 24/7. Buckets of water laced with Dawn were a new fixture on every set of beach steps so people could scrub their feet. Miles of boom had been strung. Restaurants were 50 percent down, their managers said, and hotel parking lots were empty at the height of the season. Coastal fishing was closed, and seafood was being imported from elsewhere.

People and businesses were hurting. I was saddened, frustrated and angry. I couldn't figure out which emotion should get top billing. We had been vacationing in the same beautiful place for years, but we knew it would be forever changed.

I asked AAHomecare's Mike Reinemer if he knew exactly when the rate announcement would come so I could at least share a little beach time with the cleanup crew, and I described what was going on among the tarballs. The association was waiting, too, he said, and he drew this parallel with competitive bidding: “The HME sector is like the fishing community down in the Gulf — watching a sort of slow-motion, man-made catastrophe ebbing toward us, knowing that it's going to destroy a way of life for many dedicated folks.”

CMS finally held a press conference on the rates July 1, and I dialed in on my cell phone, which kept cutting out with the spotty beach reception. But when I caught the words “32 percent savings,” I wished I hadn't.