New Provider Group Forms

MIAMI–Competitive bidding has thrown HME into a veritable
hurricane of activity–and, amid appeals to CMS, letters to
Congress and preliminary moves by various industry groups toward
legal action, a new organization has also come on the scene.

Provider Rob Brant of City Medical Services in North Miami
Beach, Fla., said he started AMEPA–Accredited Medical Equipment
Providers of America–just last week “to unify the accredited
medical equipment providers.”

Brant, a member of VGM and former board member of the Florida
Association of Medical Equipment Services, said the group plans to
reach out specifically to those providers who are accredited or who
plan to become accredited to help them through competitive
bidding.

“It is created by accredited providers for current and
future accredited providers,” Brant said.

AMEPA, which will hold its first meeting for members in Ft.
Lauderdale, Fla., on Thursday, will focus on educating providers on
different aspects of accreditation as well as on topics like how to
contact their congressmen, Brant said.

“I have spoken with many accredited providers and they
said that they don’t belong to any [HME] organizations or go to any
of the trade shows,” Brant said. Of the providers he
interviewed, Brand said, most “had no idea who their
congressmen are. We are teaching them how to contact their
legislators and to be involved. I think that’s one of the problems
we have had in the industry.”

AMEPA’s board includes Jack Marquez, vice president of Cobra
Medical, Miami; Jeff Rittenberg, CEO of Surf Med, Miami; Zane
Morgan of Morgan and Associates; Ron Jenkins, owner of Respitec,
Orlando, Fla.; Ray Ferri of Metroplex Medical Services; and Javier
Talamo of Hialeah, Fla., law firm Kravitz & Talamo.

Brant said the group is already active and has garnered letters
from members of Congress including Florida Republicans Ric Keller,
Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
requesting that CMS stop the competitive bidding process. (See
related story this issue.)

“[AMEPA is] going to be a united voice for the accredited
DME owner … in less than one week we have assembled four
letters [from members of Congress] asking to stop competitive
bidding,” Brant said.

In addition to Miami, Brant said AMEPA has members in Orlando,
Fla., and Dallas, Texas, and meetings will also be held in those
cities.

For additional information, Brant may be contacted at [email protected].