Washington
One of the HME industry's chief advocates on Capitol Hill plans to introduce a bill that would modify the DME competitive bidding provision in the MMA.
Rep. David Hobson, R-Ohio, has been a vocal opponent of competitive bidding, said Cara Bachenheimer, vice president of government relations for Invacare Corp., Elyria, Ohio. As of press time, the new legislation was expected to be introduced early this month, she said.
The bill would, among other things, require CMS to implement supplier quality standards at the same time as competitive bidding, exempt rural areas with 500,000 or fewer people from the bidding program and require CMS to show the “reasonable likelihood” of significant savings for a product before selecting it for competitive bidding.
For more on the bill, see Washington Wit & Wisdom on page 46.
