The American Association for Homecare Washington Legislative Conference on Feb. 15 and 16 attracted 300 HME advocates. There were eloquent speakers, heated political conversations and meetings on Capitol Hill. There was also a surplus of Notable & Quotable comments, including:
“Who would think that I’d go to Washington, D.C., to get away from government regulations?” – Comment from HME provider taking a break from work on competitive bidding to attend the conference.
“We will fight them until hell freezes over, and then we’ll fight them on the ice.” – Paraphrase of a Civil War quote uttered by Tyler J. Wilson, AAHomecare CEO and president, after a setback getting the Market Pricing Program pushed through Congress.
“We don’t have any direction in our country right now. We’re cutting anything that raises its head up. It’s like Whac-A-Mole.” – A. Malachi Mixon III, of Invacare, while accepting an Advocate of the Year Award from AAHomecare.
“There’s clearly a problem here. All the efforts seem to go after the honest, hardworking people who are doing what you would want them to do.” – U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas, talking about the government’s effort to fight fraud, waste and abuse in Medicare.
“I realize that the issue of competitive bidding has been for you a real source of indigestion.” – U.S. Rep. Phil Gringrey, R-Ga., addressing the conference.
“Now is not the time to scale up a program that everybody but CMS agrees is flawed.” – Peter Cramton, a University of Maryland economist, talking about competitive bidding.
“What is absolutely perfect may not be feasible. Even if it’s not perfect because of political problems, it’s still going to be good.” – Brett Katzman, a Kennesaw State University economist, talking about plans to fix competitive bidding.
“Our efforts have kept us from being cut even more.” – Joel Marx, chairman of AAHomecare, speaking at a luncheon.
“The MPP (Market Pricing Program)—I think that’s a great compromise. It’s a good way forward.” – U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, addressing the conference.
HomeCare, March 2012
