Home Care’s Foundation

“I appreciate the fact that the small business entrepreneurs are some of the great innovators in our nation. After all, men and women who run small businesses have a vision to see beyond what is, and the courage to pursue what might be.”
— President George W. Bush, speaking at a National Small Business Conferencein Washington, D.C., April 27, 2005

As we all know, national competitive bidding (aka “restrictive contracting”) threatens the very foundation of home care in America: its small businesses. Rep. Dave Hobson, R-Ohio, is proposing legislation that will specifically address the issues relevant to small providers, including exempting rural areas and allowing any Medicare Part B provider meeting quality standards to participate in the bid process.

The truth is, America was built on the shoulders of small business. From farmers with an acre of land and a few workers to care for crops, to inventors touching on the early stages of technology and innovations, to builders and manufacturers creating products to support their fledgling industries, the global economic leadership of the United States was born from the entrepreneurial spirit and vision of individuals with ideas.

Today, it is easy to understand why small businesses get so much credit for being the lynchpin of our nation’s economy. Small businesses fuel growth, support bigger industries and provide critical services to large companies.

Overall, small businesses have important roles in our economy, responding to demand for new products and services, employing half of all private sector workers and creating most of the new jobs every year in this country. In the economic cycle, small businesses often create larger businesses and bigger ideas. Small and large businesses with a shared idea or supporting product often work together, taking risks together and supporting innovations to generate hopeful longer-term success.

Every year, small businesses create seven out of 10 new jobs in this country and account for more than half of the output of our economy. There are approximately 23 million small businesses in the United States, employing half of all private sector employees and paying nearly half of our nation’s private payroll.

It is no wonder that President Bush has referred to small businesses as “the heart of our nation’s economy.”

In the health care sector, small businesses constitute the majority of our delivery system for services and equipment. Comprising a significant portion of AAHomecare’s membership, small businesses provide millions of dollars in services and equipment to home care patients every year.

Perhaps you can see why we are working hard for the protection of small home care providers from the harmful effects restrictive contracting would undoubtedly inflict on the home care community. Considering the timing of the proposed legislative remedy for competitive bidding from Rep. Hobson, the pressure on Congress for this issue will take place during the Congressional recess. Members are back in their states/districts until Sept. 6. It is imperative that home care providers use this time wisely by setting up meetings with their members of Congress during the recess.

We are grateful to partner with state association leaders, The Med Group, VGM, and others in the development of a Small Business Committee to work on issues that small providers will face under national competitive bidding. These committee members will bring a great deal of value and experience to the competitive bidding reform effort to ensure success in this endeavor.

It is not without a little bit of pride to say that small businesses drive much of what our members do to preserve dignity, to keep families together by helping patients stay in their homes and, yes, to improve and save lives — each and every day.

As President Calvin Coolidge once said, “The chief business of the American people is business.” And this couldn’t be truer for the businesses that support the work we do at AAHomecare. Without them, our industry wouldn’t be what it is — and the health care sector would look much different than it does today.

The role of small businesses in home care is clear. And our appreciation of them is great.

Kay Cox is president and CEO of the American Association for Homecare, Alexandria, Va. For more information about AAHomecare, visit www.aahomecare.org, or call 703/836-6263.