AAHomecare regroups after “doc fix” bill advances without MPP

The HME industry suffered a setback last week when Congress reached a quick and unexpected agreement on the so-called “doc fix” bill. HME advocates had hoped to attach a replacement for competitive bidding on the measure, but it moved forward without the replacement, the Market Pricing Program (MPP).

The setback occurred as the American Association for Homecare (AAHomeCare) convened its annual Washington Legislative Conference. About 300 HME providers attended and expected to push their representatives and senators to include MPP in the doc fix legislation.

AAHomecare leaders quickly shifted strategies, and directed conference participants to press representatives and senators for a “score” from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on the MPP proposal.

“It could be worse,’’ Joel Marx, chairman of AAHomecare, told the providers. “We have strong bi-partisan support for the value of home care. We need to pull out all the stops in Washington. We need to knock on every door.’’

The CBO score is needed to show that the MPP proposal would be budget neutral, which is essential for its passage. Conference participants then descended upon Capitol Hill to visit representatives and senators.

Speaking to a delegation of providers from Alabama, an aide for Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., expressed guarded optimism that the CBO could be encouraged to evaluate the MPP proposal for budget neutrality. Sessions is the ranking Republican member of the Senate Budget Committee, which can exert influence on the CBO. “We know the CBO pretty well,’’ the aide said. “Perhaps we can push this along.”

The aide said that the House and Senate may remain in session until June or July, and the MPP proposal might have a chance at being attached to some other legislation moving through the process during that period.

However, the aide said, CBO will be busy over the next six weeks scoring President Obama’s budget proposal. After that, there will be a narrow window of opportunity for MPP to get scored and attached to some other piece of legislation. The aide stressed the importance of MPP being budget neutral and having bi-partisan support.

Michael Hamilton, executive director of the Alabama Durable Medical Equipment Association, assured the aide that the MPP measure would maintain the current levels of savings estimated for the Competitive Bidding Program and does have support from both Democrats and Republicans.