Hobson-Tanner Co-Sponsor Count Climbs

LAS VEGAS–The industry’s hard push on H.R. 3559, also known as
the Hobson-Tanner bill, continues.

“We are now up to 92 co-sponsors, and we have gotten another six
verbal commitments, so that should bring the total to 98,” said
Pride Mobility’s Wayne Grau, who is leading a nationwide effort to
boost support for the measure. “We need about 100 to 105
co-sponsors in order to have the Senate write a companion bill,”
Grau said, adding that “we hope to get that process started in
about two weeks.”

Grau said anger from HME providers over the recently passed
Deficit Reduction Act, which contains a 36-month rental cap on home
oxygen equipment, has fueled grassroots interest in H.R. 3559.
Since passage of the DRA, Grau said, “we’re seeing more and more
dealers getting involved–and that’s what needs to happen.”

Grau has been traveling the country to educate lawmakers about
the Hobson-Tanner bill, which would soften the blow of DME
competitive bidding. “We’ve held 170 meetings in 30 states, and by
mid-April we will have 300 meetings done,” he said.

When he meets with congressional representatives on a district
level, Grau explained, “most say they have never met with anyone
from the DME industry … and they have absolutely no idea what we
do, so we really have to go in and show them what we do and how we
help patients and how we save the government money.”

The meetings are having positive results, Grau said, especially
when he is accompanied by local providers. The lawmakers “want to
know how [competitive bidding] is going to hurt their constituents
and hurt the patients in their district, and they want to hear from
local businesses on how it is going to hurt them. It really gets
the point across that it’s not just one person that’s unhappy about
this–it’s the whole industry,” Grau said.

One of the most important things providers can do, he continued,
is to educate their own member of Congress about H.R. 3559. “We’re
eventually going to need 200 co-signers for the House bill and at
least 51 co-signers for the companion bill in the Senate” to have a
chance at passage, he said.

“We’re working closely with [the American Association for
Homecare] to do the follow-up on these meetings, and with this
two-pronged approach, we’ve really been able to see the number of
co-sponsors rise,” he said.

The text of H.R. 3559 is available at http://thomas.loc.gov.

For a list of current co-sponsors, visit www.aahomecare.org.

For more information on meetings with legislators, contact Wayne
Grau at (603) 438-9169 or e-mail [email protected].