Health Reform Opportunity

Health care reform is not just a buzz word for policy wonks. It is a top priority for both the Obama administration and for powerful committees in Congress that have set an aggressive timeline for legislation that would expand health coverage for the uninsured and make health care and Medicare delivery more efficient and less costly.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has called for a health reform bill to be introduced by July. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., has also expressed interest in seeing legislation on the House floor before August. A small group of powerful lawmakers with jurisdiction over Medicare has been meeting regularly to discuss options and push for legislation.

So the months ahead are critical for the home medical equipment sector. We have opportunities to make the case for stronger home care policy that will preserve the nation’s home care infrastructure: home care is cost-effective, clinically proven and is already the slowest-growing sector in Medicare. At the same time, we face familiar threats: cuts to HME reimbursement in Medicare might be proposed as one way to help pay for a health reform package.

Preconceived notions held by some members of the Senate and House will pose problems. While it had been postponed at press time, Sen. John Rockefeller, D-W.Va., had planned to hold a hearing about the HME competitive bidding program before his Health Subcommittee of the Senate Finance Committee. We believe he may push for rapid re-implementation of the bidding program since Rockefeller, along with Sens. Kerry, Feinstein, Coburn and Craig, cosigned a letter to Senate leaders last year expressing their opposition to a delay in the bidding program.

So far this year, the HME community has been very vocal in pushing its concerns. AAHomecare held a Washington fly-in during February. Several state HME associations participated aggressively in the White House health care forums held in several states during March. Advocacy days have been planned by HME associations in Pennsylvania and other states for the first week of April. AAHomecare will hold its full annual Washington Legislative Conference on June 1-3, which will occur during the crafting and vetting of health legislation.

Meanwhile, we continue work on several fronts to protect home care. AAHomecare volunteer leaders and staff are pursuing a road map toward elimination of the competitive bidding program, working with the regional and state associations to develop broad congressional support.

The New Oxygen Coalition, convened by the Association, has worked rapidly in intensive meetings to move toward an agreed-upon set of principles to reform the Medicare home oxygen therapy benefit. The aim of the reform effort is to focus the benefit on the patient, recognize the services required in providing oxygen therapy, repeal the 36-month cap and remove oxygen from competitive bidding.

Over the past year, the Stand Up for Homecare campaign and its steering committee have focused on giving home care issues a positive, accurate face in the media and in Washington in particular. Rational PR, a public relations firm in Washington D.C., has helped to sharpen and convey key home care messages to hundreds of policy and health care journalists and policymakers who shape thinking about health care policy in America.

Two important additions to the HME sector’s resources to convey complete information about our issues are micro-Web sites devoted to the home care perspective on competitive bidding (aahomecare.org/competitivebidding) and another site that describes our efforts to stop Medicare fraud (aahomecare.org/stopfraud). These two sites are designed to speak to the media, consumers and policymakers who need to see the full issue described in layman’s language.

To sum up, there are plenty of activities and resources available. The time for home care advocates to stand up and speak up is now. The HME sector needs all hands on deck. Please join us in this fight.

Tyler J. Wilson is president and CEO of the American Association for Homecare, headquartered in Arlington, Va. You can reach him at [email protected]. For more information on critical home care issues, visit the association’s Web site at www.aahomecare.org.