LAS VEGAS--The storm clouds that hovered above the Las Vegas Convention Center for much of last week at Medtrade Spring may have seemed a fitting symbol of the HME industry's current climate.

But neither the inclement weather nor the turbulence created by recent legislative setbacks kept providers from making a strong showing at the trade show, held March 21-23.

With every seat taken, providers lined the walls Wednesday at the American Association for Homecare's "Washington Update" as association Chair Tom Ryan took the opportunity to deliver a rallying call.

"We're in the battle of our lives, ladies and gentlemen," Ryan said. "The battle's going to get tougher, and without your support we're not going to win it."

In an industry still reeling from the passage of the Deficit Reduction Act--which caps Medicare rental of oxygen equipment at 36 months and rentals of most other DME at 13 months--the specter of competitive bidding still looms on the horizon.

But reminding providers that the DRA was passed by the narrowest of margins, Ryan praised them for their efforts in fighting the legislation and stressed the importance of patient involvement in that and future campaigns.

"We got the patients involved, finally," Ryan said. "And because we got the patients involved, what happened up on the Hill? We finally were heard."

Ryan urged providers to help obtain co-sponsors for the Hobson-Tanner bill (H.R. 3559), which makes changes to the Medicare Modernization Act's competitive bidding provision to ease some of its effects and ensure beneficiary access under the program.

"We need at least 200 [co-sponsors], but we're getting there. And we'll get there ... but we can't do it without the help of people in this room," Ryan said.

Ryan also said AAHomecare is working with two executive search firms to replace former CEO Kay Cox, who stepped down last month. The association hopes to have a new CEO in place by June.

Declaring his personal commitment to the home care industry, Ryan mentioned his 30 years of involvement in HME and said, "I'll be damned before I continue if I'm going to see this turn into a commodity industry. Not on my watch."

Updating providers about current developments on Capitol Hill, Asela Cuervo, who represents AAHomecare on the CMS Program Advisory and Oversight Committee for competitive bidding, said the fact that CMS was taking so long to deliver a notice of proposed rulemaking spoke to the initiative's complexity.

"We can't rush to implementation at this point," Cuervo said, later adding, "Let's not try to rush things at the end just to meet an arbitrary deadline that Congress set for 2007.'"

Cuervo said although CMS is expected to release the competitive bidding rule at the end of this month, it could be delayed longer. She also said HME provider quality standards are expected later this spring.

Acknowledging lawsuits that have been filed regarding the legality of the DRA, Cuervo said, "Be that as it may, the president has signed the law, and until a court invalidates that law we all proceed as it is in place, and I think that is the way we need to move forward."

At AAHomecare's session, some attendees expressed frustration with previous lobbying efforts. Responding to audience comments about lackluster turnout on Capitol Hill, Ryan said, "I agree. Every year this association has a fly-in, and why don't we have thousands of people there? I don't know. Go out on the floor and ask yourselves."

Medtrade/AAHomecare's 2006 Reimbursement Conference on Tuesday was also sold out with 250 attendees. And close to 400 packed the conference room for "Update on Mandatory Accreditation and Q&A with the Big Three," which featured representatives from the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC), the Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP) and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).

In all, VNU's Art Ellis, Medtrade director, said the show's educational conference attendance was up by 20 percent over last year's.