More than 250 HME providers and other advocates called on members of Congress to cosponsor H.R. 1041 during the American Association for Homecare's Legislative Conference last month, and their efforts paid off. As of presstime, 53 representatives from both sides of the aisle had signed on to the bill.
Introduced March 11 by Reps. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., and Jason Altmire, D-Pa., the Fairness in Medicare Bidding Act calls for an immediate repeal of DMEPOS competitive bidding. To “pay for” the $20 billion the government expects in savings from the program over 10 years, the bill taps discretionary funds that Congress had earmarked for other projects but never actually used.
H.R. 3790, a similar repeal bill, picked up 259 cosponsors in the House last year but didn't make it out of committee. Speaking to the AAHomecare audience, Thompson said, “I'm hopeful the new bill will gain just as much or more than that.
“All indicators are we're on the track,” said Thompson, a former recreational therapist and EMT. “Most bills like this rarely pass in the first cycle,” he added, “but I think the dynamics are pretty good for us right now.”
Providers, too, said they were confident the new repeal bill could make headway in the House.
“I think we can get 100 cosponsors in the first month,” predicted Rob Brant of City Medical Services in Miami. The key, he said, is getting those representatives who signed on to last year's bill to do so again, and to gain support from as many of the 94 new House freshmen as possible. Ten of those are in Florida, and providers from the state held meetings with all of them during the AAHomecare lobbying event March 16-17.
The trip to Washington to push the new bill was “definitely worth the effort,” said conference attendee Mike Hamilton, executive director of the Alabama Durable Medical Equipment Association. “It sometimes takes years to make things happen up here, and you have to be persistent. But I really believe we've got the best opportunity we've ever had to get competitive bidding repealed at no cost to the industry.
“After a few more months of the current program running,” Hamilton continued, “it will be so obvious to anyone that it isn't working that I think anybody would vote to repeal it.”
Coastal Med Tech's Catherine Hamilton (no relation) agreed.
“I think [the bill] has potentially a greater chance than it did a year ago to go somewhere,” said Hamilton, who traveled from her home base in Hancock, Maine, to take part in the Capitol Hill lobbying effort. “While competitive bidding doesn't directly affect us right now in Maine, it's certainly going to have that trickle-down effect, and that's something that we just can't tolerate in the industry.”
When meeting with legislators or their aides face-to-face on the Hill, Hamilton said, “You can't help but feel you'll have a positive effect.”
Providers were cautiously optimistic that positive energy might extend to the Senate. H.R. 3790 never picked up a companion bill in that chamber, but there's hope for H.R. 1041 in Congress' new session, with several senators targeted as champions of the proposed legislation.
That's the challenge this time around, said David Petsch of Petsch Respiratory Services in Martinez, Ga. “We'll obviously get support for 1041 but we're going to need to find an equal track on the Senate side. We have the opportunities … and we've got an outside chance to get something going,” he said.
While he and others acknowledged that coming up with a Senate bill could be a heavy lift, Petsch said it's one the industry has to shoulder.
“I'm convinced that all of our energy needs to be on repeal,” Petsch said of competitive bidding. “Reforming this program isn't going to work.”
Stewart Pace of Med-South in Homewood, Ala., said he feels the same way but wishes more providers would share the load.
“We had 250 at the conference,” Pace said, “but there should have been 2,500.”
Spread the Word
If you are reading this issue at Medtrade Spring, visit the H.R. 1041 Command Center in the AAHomecare booth (#2419) to check on the status of cosponsors in your state, pick up talking points about the bill and send emails to your legislators.
Patient Groups Back Bid Repeal
At presstime, more than two dozen patient advocacy and other health care groups had lined up behind H.R. 1041 to support repeal of competitive bidding.
- The ALS Association
- AlphaOne (Maine Center for Independent Living)
- American Association of People with Disabilities
- American Foundation for the Blind
- American Sleep Apnea Association
- American Therapeutic Recreation Association
- Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs
- Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living
- Association of University Centers on Disabilities
- Brain Injury Association of America
- Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation
- International Ventilator Users Network
- Long Island Center for Independent Living
- Muscular Dystrophy Association
- National Association of the Deaf
- National Council on Independent Living
- National Emphysema/COPD Association
- National Family Caregivers Association
- National Spinal Cord Injury Association
- Post-Polio Health International
- Statewide Independent Living Council of Georgia
- Three Rivers Center for Independent Living
- UCP/CLASS (formerly UCP Pittsburgh)
- United Spinal Association
- National Association for Home Care and Hospice
- National Association for the Support of Long Term Care
- UPMC Health System
