WASHINGTON--Bill Thomas, former chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and a long-time foe of the home medical equipment industry, will make his first public speech today as a visiting fellow of the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research.

Thomas, considered the father of the cap on Medicare oxygen reimbursement, signed on to the D.C.-based conservative think tank earlier this month as a scholar focusing on tax, health care and trade policies, as well as elections and the legislative and political process. He joins a long list of conservative public policy experts, including former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former CMS Administrator Mark B. McClellan, M.D.

Thomas is scheduled as the keynote speaker today at "How Will the President's Tax Deduction for Health Insurance Work," an AEI panel discussion of President Bush's proposal to provide a standard tax deduction for those buying health insurance. The event will be held at the Wohlstetter Conference Center in Washington.

AEI, which a spokesman describes as "a university without students," says its purposes are to "defend the principles and improve the institutions of American freedom and democratic capitalism." The private, not-for-profit organization offers its resident and visiting fellows a forum from which to comment on issues of government, politics, economics and social welfare. As a visiting fellow at AEI, Thomas will be involved in researching his areas of expertise, writing papers and participating in conferences.

"We are very proud to welcome Bill Thomas to the AEI team," said Christopher DeMuth, president. "Both his intellect and his vast legislative experience will be an enormous asset to AEI."

Stakeholders in the HME industry were less enthusiastic.

"Mr. Thomas is still a force to be reckoned with. He won't have the same direct power he wielded as Ways and Means chair, but at AEI, he will probably influence the way members of Congress and the administration approach issues such as Medicare," said Michael Reinemer, vice president, communications and policy, for the American Association for Homecare. "I suspect his zeal to 'reform' entitlement programs has not diminished since leaving office."

"He certainly has been a problem for the HME community regarding understanding of home care costs and services," said Robert Achermann, executive director of the California Association of Medical Product Suppliers. Whether Thomas' position at AEI will influence future legislation remains to be seen, he said.

Thomas' federal legislative credentials reach back to 1979, when he joined the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican from California. He retired in January after serving as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee for six years. During that tenure, he became known as a champion of HME cuts, most notably the administration's proposed 13-month cap on Medicare oxygen reimbursement.