AAHomecare reports leader on MPP legislation in the House

ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 27, 2012—Months of discussion with Congressman Tom Price (R-Ga.) involving both the American Association for Homecare and the Georgia Association of Medical Equipment Services (GAMES) culminated last week in Dr. Price’s signaling his support for the Market Pricing Program (MPP) and his willingness to introduce legislation in the House of Representatives.

MPP is an alternative to the current CMS bidding program. While still based around an auction structure, the MPP framework addresses many of the critical shortcomings in the current bidding program such as imposition of the median prices, non-binding bids, and population-based auction areas that fail to reflect actual markets. Congressman Price expects to introduce the MPP proposal after it undergoes the official drafting process of being put into House legislative or bill language.

With the Congressman poised to sponsor the legislation, the next step for the homecare community is to contact House Republicans and Democrats and urge them to be original co-sponsors. AAHomecare alerted its members today about the importance of enlisting original cosponsors for this critical bill.

AAHomecare thanks Todd Tyson, president of Hi-Tech Healthcare, Inc., Norcross, Ga., and the other activists at GAMES who have demonstrated how a national trade organization like AAHomecare, in conjunction with a network of state advocates, can highlight a critical problem, in this case competitive bidding, and generate the interest and support within Congress for legislation to address the issue. With competitive bidding posing a threat to Medicare beneficiaries and the companies that provide their care, AAHomecare and organizations like GAMES have led the charge in making sure Congress understands the magnitude of the problem. Learn more at www.aahomecare.org.