New PAOC Members Hopeful as First Meeting Approaches
ATLANTA — Members of the second Program Advisory and Oversight Committee said
Friday they are hopeful they can have a positive impact on DMEPOS
competitive bidding as the rebid process moves forward.
CMS will convene the first meeting of the new committee June 4
in Baltimore. The agency abruptly ended the term of the original
PAOC members and called for new nominees in 2008, three months
after Congress halted Round One of bidding (see Call for New PAOC
Puzzles Current Members, Oct. 13, 2008). In January, CMS chose
a new committee.
The group was initially established to provide CMS with advice
on the implementation of competitive bidding. But previous PAOC
members have been vocal in their criticism of CMS, saying that
although the committee’s name indicates they had oversight powers,
they did not, and while they were to function as well in an
advisory capacity, CMS seldom took their advice.
New PAOC members, who will be sworn in before the June meeting
begins, are cautiously optimistic their voices will be heard this
time around.
“I have wide open expectations,” said Doran Edwards, MD, of
Advanced HealthCare Consulting in Columbia, S.C., about serving on
the PAOC. “I am looking forward to the group. I think we have some
great players there and … we hope we can provide some
insights to CMS on Round One if it must go forward.”
Edwards, former SADMERC director, said if CMS and Congress
decide to continue with competitive bidding, he hopes the group can
help establish “a more equitable playing field for all
players.”
Committee member Walt Gorski, vice president of government
affairs for the American Association for Homecare, said he hopes
CMS “will use this meeting as an opportunity to gather feedback
from the initial rollout of the program in order to modify and make
corrections to problematic issues that arose in Round One.
“We also hope that CMS will explain in detail how it intends to
proceed under a rebid of Round One,” he added. “There is great hope
that CMS will work to correct deficiencies rather than hastily
attempt to meet an arbitrary deadline.”
Gorski said he and other members of the group want to explore
several questions, including why the competitive bidding program
differed so dramatically from the demonstration project,
particularly in regard to the number of suppliers chosen to service
various areas; whether those providers would be able to survive if
they only won one product category when they provided the whole
complement of HME; and how under any competitive bidding program
the government can set the price at a lower rate than what
providers bid.
Other members of the 17-member committee include:
- Peter Amico, Prime Care Supplies Inc. of Holtsville, N.Y.
- Kendra Betz, U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs - Richard Boulger, University of Iowa Business Solutions Center
- Sue ElHessen, Careers Unlimited Inc. of Bellflower, Calif.
- Joseph Furlong, American Home Patient of Brentwood, Tenn.
- Rita Hostak, Sunrise Medical Inc. of Mathews, N.C.
- Thomas Jeffers, Hill-Rom, Inc. of Batesville, Ind.
- Ruben King-Shaw, All-Med Services of Florida Inc.
- Ann Kohler, National Association of State Medicaid Directors
- Jeffrey Mansell, Texas Department of State Health Services
- Sharad Mansukani, NationsHealth Inc. of Sunrise, Fla.
- Thomas Milam, AmMed Direct LLC of Antioch, Tenn.
- Barbara Rogers, National Emphysema/COPD Association
- Esta Willman, Medi-Source, Yucca Valley, Calif.
- Debra Zak, The Joint Commission, Des Plaines, Ill.
The new PAOC members, to be sworn in before the June meeting
begins, will serve through Dec. 31, 2011.
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