CBO Releases Score for H.R. 3790; Can Industry Pay the Bill?

WASHINGTON — After months of waiting, the home medical
equipment industry finally got the figure it was looking for last
week when the Congressional Budget Office released its score for
H.R. 3790, the bill that would eliminate DMEPOS competitive bidding.

The bottom line: The CBO says a repeal of the program would cost
$9.6 billion over 10 years.

“It certainly was news we needed,” said Wayne Stanfield,
president and CEO of the National Association of Independent
Medical Equipment Suppliers. “We’ve been asking for a score.” But
the score is preliminary, he added. “We don’t know how they arrived
at [that cost].”

Since Congress enacted its “pay-go” rules, all new legislation
must inherently pay for itself. So, if the industry is successful
in getting competitive bidding eliminated, it must find a way to
pay for the cost of the program’s projected savings.

Introduced in October by Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., H.R. 3790
was intended to be budget-neutral. But the bill lost some of its
pay-fors — such as a CPI increase for HME in 2014 —
under health reform.

“Details about the score and possible offsets have not been
clarified, and a great many questions remain about the CBO
information,” the American Association for Homecare reported in its
weekly newsletter. AAHomecare representatives met on Wednesday with
Meek’s staff to learn more about the score and its impact on the
bill’s proposals. The association’s Competitive Bidding Task Force
also held a conference call to consider the CBO information and
what changes might be needed to generate congressional action on
the legislation.

Meanwhile, the bill continues to gain traction in the House. As
of Friday, the official cosponsor tally stood at 231.

“When you get that many cosponsors on one side, the other side
begins to hear about it,” said Stanfield, noting that advocates
must continue work to find a Senate champion for a companion
bill.

CMS is expected to announce Round 1 pricing in June, followed by
bid winners in September. The bidding program is on track to take
effect Jan. 1, 2011.

View more competitive bidding
stories.