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We'd had the reservations for months. My whole family was
getting together. We'd picked out a great condo right on the beach.
We would be there to watch the fireworks sparkle down on the waves
July 4. Did I mention we were headed to the Gulf?
There was the oil spill, but what's a little oil, we said? Then
Hurricane Alex kicked up, but what's a little wind, we said?
Besides, my favorite Parrothead Jimmy Buffett was giving a free
concert on the beach for 35,000 of his closest friends, and we were
lucky enough to score tickets.
Then CMS ditched a reported June 25 deadline for release of the
Round 1 bid
rates, and my summer vacation suddenly went south. I spent the
entire drive there checking every voice message and email. I sat in
the condo glued to my laptop for the next several days so I
wouldn't miss the announcement when CMS made it.
Outside, oil had hit the pristine sands, and cleanup workers,
some in Hazmat suits, were sweeping and shoveling 24/7. Buckets of
water laced with Dawn were a new fixture on every set of beach
steps so people could scrub their feet. Miles of boom had been
strung. Restaurants were 50 percent down, their managers said, and
hotel parking lots were empty at the height of the season. Coastal
fishing was closed, and seafood was being imported from
elsewhere.
People and businesses were hurting. I was saddened, frustrated
and angry. I couldn't figure out which emotion should get top
billing. We had been vacationing in the same beautiful place for
years, but we knew it would be forever changed.
I asked AAHomecare's Mike Reinemer if he knew exactly when the
rate announcement would come so I could at least share a little
beach time with the cleanup crew, and I described what was going on
among the tarballs. The association was waiting, too, he said, and
he drew this parallel with competitive bidding: “The
HME sector is like the fishing community down in the Gulf —
watching a sort of slow-motion, man-made catastrophe ebbing toward
us, knowing that it's going to destroy a way of life for many
dedicated folks.”
CMS finally held a press conference on the rates July 1, and I
dialed in on my cell phone, which kept cutting out with the spotty
beach reception. But when I caught the words “32 percent
savings,” I wished I hadn't.
That cut, much deeper than anyone expected, will certainly
destroy many Round 1 companies, and if the bidding program
continues, many more. Thousands of jobs could be lostin this
industry, too, and beneficiaries are bound to have problems with
access, quality of equipment and service. Medicare is about people,
after all. I got sad and angry all over again.
This definitely wasn't the vacation I had envisioned. It
apparently wasn't the week that Jimmy Buffett had thought about
either; he postponed his concert until after we left because of the
hurricane, and we gave up our tickets. But I did find some wisdom
in an interview he gave. He said it's normal for people to be mad
when they see oil washing up on the beaches.
“If you're born and raised on the Gulf Coast and it's kind
of in you, and you don't feel anger and rage initially over what's
going on down there, I think you're a hypocrite,” Jimmy told
The Associated Press. “That's the way I felt. Now, what you
do with that is a big question.”
It's a good question for those connected to HME as well. Being
Jimmy, what he did, of course, was to throw a big party at the oil
slick. Most of us don't have that kind of influence, but what we
can do is tell others what's happening to this industry.
Competitive bidding will change home care forever, and not for the
better. If you're as frustrated about the program as I am, then let
your legislators know.
