As our staff readies this magazine for press, the mid-term election frenzy is in full swing with controlling seats in the House and Senate up for grabs.
by Gail Walker

As our staff readies this magazine for press, the mid-term
election frenzy is in full swing with controlling seats in the
House and Senate up for grabs. HomeCare's Web poll, which
asks whether it's favorable for HME if one party or the other
controls Congress, has seesawed back and forth every day. (For the
final outcome, see page 10.)

On the local level, for weeks now I've gone home to political
messages on my answering machine and a mailbox stuffed with flyers
from candidates eager for my vote. In Georgia, there are dozens of
hot-potato debates ranging from the governor's personal land deals
to amnesty for migrant workers.

But a committed group of HME providers in the state remains
focused on one issue only — home care. As the industry mounts
a final push on the Hobson-Tanner and Home Oxygen Patient
Protection bills before Congress reconvenes, this grassroots group
has galvanized into something akin to a strike force.

“If anything comes up, we'll drive, we'll fly, we'll go
wherever we can to make our statement in volume,” says HiTech
Healthcare's Todd Tyson, one of those who call themselves the
“Georgia gang.”

Tyson, along with David Petsch of Petsch Respiratory Services,
John Rhodes of Mountain Home Care Equipment, Tom Riddle of MRS
Homecare and numerous others have called on every member of the
state's delegation for support, armed with AAHomecare's comments on
the proposed competitive bidding rule and its rebuttal of the OIG
oxygen report.

The mission is time-consuming. Often it's frustrating — in
spades, these providers say — particularly when
behind-the-scenes political deals don't favor home care or when
young health aides must be educated from scratch. And, of course,
when Congress members don't agree. But the group is prepared for
that, too. Petsch developed a “report card” that shows
whether Georgia's congressmen have signed on to the industry bills,
and the providers are circulating it to both patients and referral
sources.

Will the effort pay off?

“It already has,” says Tyson. “It has changed
my posture in my own community. We've got physicians applauding the
fact that we are fighting and not lying down and letting Medicare
run over us. We've got patients who have been bulldogs about
calling people in Congress.”

He also points to the wins. Georgia now has six of 13
representatives signed on to H.R. 3559 (Hobson-Tanner), and
hopefully more to come. Recently the gang met with congressional
candidate Hank Johnson to get him on board early. Johnson told the
group the legislation would be something he could get behind if
elected. As it turned out, he defeated Rep. Cynthia McKinney in the
state primary — and home care has gained another supporter
should Johnson win the seat in Congress (he is widely favored).

But even if he doesn't, and even if the gang has to start all
over again after the elections, Tyson says there's just too much at
stake not to. “If we can develop and maintain relationships
with these guys and have dialogue on a consistent basis instead of
being so reactive, we could have some real champions here in
Georgia,” he says.

If you think that sounds like Tyson is looking toward a sound
future for HME, you're right. “If 50 percent of small
providers are eliminated,” he says, “then those guys
were in it for a hobby and not for a living.

“I don't have all the answers. But when all is ironed out
with the final competitive bidding rule and the new Congress is
voted in and things begin to stabilize, I think you will start
seeing that people will find ways to survive. The providers who are
committed and looking for opportunities will find them.”

gwalker@homecaremag.com