In Their Own Words

Turning back the “competitive” bidding program has been the top legislative priority for AAHomecare for years, and we’re proud of the strong support in Congress for H.R. 3790, the bipartisan bill to preserve access to home care while providing a cost-effective alternative to competitive bidding.

In addition to our lobbying activities, we have been engaged in a state-by-state communications campaign to highlight local concern about the bidding program. Here are a few highlights from press statements we have distributed so far:

• COLORADO: “Competitive bidding sounds reasonable on the surface. However, in its current form, it is very dangerous for patients who need home medical equipment. Only one in 10 providers will be awarded a bid, so nine out of 10 providers will quickly close their businesses. This will ultimately cost Medicare more money as hospital discharges will often be delayed trying to coordinate patient care.” — Doug Coleman, CEO, Major Medical Supply, and board member, Colorado Association of Medical Equipment Services
• FLORIDA: “Competitive bidding is an oxymoron. There is nothing competitive about it, and it’s not bidding, it’s mandated suicide. Florida is an HMO-rich state, and we are used to bidding, but this CMS program isn’t ‘competitive,’ it’s purely ‘limitation’ bidding.” — Roger Ribas, president, Florida Alliance of Home Care Services
• INDIANA: “CMS is promoting this exercise as a way to save Medicare dollars and help in reducing fraud and abuse. The reality is that this misguided bidding program will ultimately cost Medicare more money by eliminating community-based sources of medically necessary home medical equipment and services. Bidding will force increasing numbers of patients to find health care in the more expensive institutional environment of skilled nursing facilities and hospitals.” — George Kucka, president, Fairmeadows Home Health, and past president, Association of Indiana Home Medical Equipment Services
• KENTUCKY: “Kentucky has approximately 550 home medical equipment providers across the state, and a majority of these are small businesses like ours — many are what you might call ‘mom and pop’ operations. Dozens of these companies are at risk of going out of business if competitive bidding is allowed to proceed, and hundreds of jobs are likely to be lost.” — Tammy Johnson, owner, AbleCare, and president, Kentucky Medical Equipment Suppliers Association
• MONTANA: “Even though Montana is not in Round 1 or 2, the effects of competitive bidding will be devastating to Montana suppliers. The price achieved will be applied to Montana by law in 2016. Before that, both Medicaid and Blue Cross Blue Shield will adopt the fees set by competitive bidding. This will force some … suppliers to eliminate services to Montanans and others will simply get out of the business.” — Mike Calcaterra, branch manager, Norco, and state legislative chair, Big Sky Association of Medical Equipment Suppliers
• NEW JERSEY: “This bidding program is something that New Jersey’s Medicare population should be gravely concerned about. If implemented, this program will do nothing more than delay access to necessary medical equipment, reduce the quality of the medical equipment provided, and place additional economic strain on the small business community. With the passage of the health reform bill, this program is now slated to encompass an alarming 80 percent of our state during the second round of bidding.” — Wendy Russalesi, executive director, Jersey Association of Medical Equipment Services
• OKLAHOMA: “Credible studies project more than 60 providers in both the Oklahoma City and Tulsa areas might have to close their doors as a result of competitive bidding. More than 1,200 jobs could be lost statewide. In some cases, elderly individuals or people with mobility problems will have to go from dealing with a single, community-based provider they know and trust to working with multiple companies for different home medical equipment products and services.” — Dennis Teal, director of homecare, Stillwater Medical Center, and board member, Medical Equipment Suppliers Association

Please add your voice to this growing chorus. You can contact your member of Congress and find out how to contact your local news media at www.capwiz.com/aahomecare. Also, spread the word on Facebook at Stop HME Bidding, and Twitter at @StopHMEBidding.

Read more AAHomecare Update columns.View more competitive bidding stories.

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.