WASHINGTON — Against the backdrop of inauguration hoopla and confirmation hearings for President Obama's cabinet nominees, the 111th Congress has been busy with a flurry of new bills that could affect HME business.
On the larger health care front, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has unveiled the committee's plan for the nation's economic stimulus bill, including a number of wide-ranging health care provisions. In the House, a portion of the massive bill, which also includes funds for health information technology, is expected to reach the floor this week.
A reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program — which threatened oxygen and power wheelchairs in Congress' last wrangle over expansion of the program — is also making its way through the legislative morass, this time without any HME provisions (see Industry Rallies against New Threat to Home Oxygen, HomeCare Monday, Aug. 6, 2007).
But there are plenty of other legislative proposals for providers to keep up with, some considered a boon to home care, others not so much.
— On Jan. 21, just days before CMS' advised Jan. 31 sign-up deadline for accreditation, Reps. Marion Berry, D-Ark., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., introduced a bill to exempt pharmacists from the Medicare accreditation requirement. While the agency has exempted some "eligible professionals," pharmacists are not on the list. Commenting on the bill (H.R. 616), Berry said the hefty accreditation requirements are a particular burden for rural pharmacists and the beneficiaries who rely on them. For more, see Bill Would Exempt Pharmacists from Accreditation.
— On Jan. 16, the Medicare Home Infusion Therapy Coverage Act of 2009 was reintroduced concurrently in the Senate (S. 254) and the House (H.R. 574). The bill would close a gap in current coverage where the medicines used in infusions to treat serious diseases are covered, but not the services or equipment needed to deliver the home therapy. The bill calls for coverage of infusion-related services, supplies and equipment under Medicare Part B. Coverage of the drugs used in infusions would remain under Part D.
Sens. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Reps. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and Timothy Murphy, R-Pa., put the proposed legislation back in play. According to the lawmakers, the lack of coverage forces patients to remain in hospitals or nursing homes longer than necessary to receive their treatments, compromising their health and costing the health care system more than it should.
"Unnecessary institutional treatment simply makes no sense when patients can be treated in the comfort of their home, and at a lower cost to Medicare," said Snowe. "Home infusion therapy is covered by private insurers because they see the tremendous value, and Medicare beneficiaries deserve no less," added Lincoln.
View the text of the S. 254 bill as a PDF. For information on the National Home Infusion Association's Legislative Hill Day March 5 visit NHIA's Web site.
— With providers still reeling from a final rule issued Dec. 29 that requires a $50,000 surety bond to participate in Medicare, Rep. Cliff Stearns, R- Fla., introduced a bill (H.R. 203) on Jan. 6 that would increase the bond amount to $500,000. The bill has been referred to the House Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce committees. While Washington-watchers say it is unlikely the proposal will see any action, "this position is another finger pointed at DME suppliers," said Wayne Stanfield, president and CEO of the National Association of Independent Medical Equipment Suppliers.
Last year, Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., and five other senators also introduced a $500,000 surety bond bill. But after an influx of calls and emails from industry groups saying the measure would cause undue hardships on small providers, the senators quickly said they would reconsider (see Fast Grassroots Action Stalls Surety Bond Legislation, HomeCare Monday, Feb. 25, 2008).
View the text of the Stearns bill, called the Medicare Fraud Prevention Act of 2009, as a PDF.
— On Jan. 14, several House and Senate Democrats jointly introduced a bill called the Retooling the Health Care Workforce for an Aging America Act (S. 245). The legislation would address the growing shortage of physicians, nurses and other health care professionals trained in geriatric medicine. Among other things, the bill would expand geriatrics training for home health aides, other direct care workers and family caregivers who provide the lion's share of daily, hands-on care for older Americans. The bill is modeled after legislation that Kohl, chair of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, introduced late last year. Sens. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and Bob Casey, D-Pa., and Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., joined in introducing the bill, which has been referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
View the text of the S. 254 bill as a PDF.
— Meanwhile, the National Alliance for Caregiving and Caring.com have called on Congress for a bailout, asking that 1 percent of the economic stimulus package be targeted toward supporting family caregivers. While the still-deteriorating economy has hit all Americans, it has hit this group harder, the organizations said. "Family caregivers are struggling to pay their own bills and, increasingly, those of their loved ones as well; expenses continue to rise and the hours of care they provide each day continue to go uncompensated."
The average caregiver now spends $5,534 a year out-of-pocket for caregiving expenses, a statement from the organizations said. "Like Wall Street, the auto industry and homeowners, family caregivers need help from Congress to make it through 2009."
Although a number of bills have been introduced in recent years that would provide tax incentives to help offset caregiving expenses, none have passed, so the organizations are calling directly on President Obama for results. According to Gail Gibson Hunt, president and CEO of the NAC, the president "cared for his mother and grandmother and knows how difficult it is to provide caregiving on top of other family responsibilities."
