Deal or No Deal?

I met a provider at Medtrade Spring in Long Beach who had flown across the country on sky miles (his company pays for all of its purchases with credit cards so they get the perks), and he was staying on the Queen Mary in Rainbow Harbor for $90 a night with a bargain he found on Travelocity.

It’s no wonder providers are such smart shoppers. After all, they’re experts at coming up with products that serve their patients well at prices that allow them to remain profitable, in spite of reimbursements that are going the opposite of up.

That’s a good thing, because this industry needs all the negotiating muscle it can muster to come up with what may be HME’s most important deal ever.

At a congressional hearing earlier this month, Rep. Pete Stark, chairman of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, said he would work with the industry to try to stop competitive bidding. The catch is the industry must find a way to pay for the cost of eliminating the program. Based on what CMS says it would save from bidding, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that could be as much as $6 billion over five years. So, unless some other plausible alternative surfaces, that could mean an across-the-board cut to make competitive bidding go away.

Big deal? You bet.

At press time, Stark’s staff and representatives from AAHomecare were discussing the possibilities. But to a person, every provider I spoke with at the trade show was willing to take such a cut in order to get rid of the DMEPOS bid.

No more nightmarish bid submissions. No more lowball prices from competitors crazed with winning contracts. No more payments calculated who knows how. No more scrambling to find other revenue sources (although that’s probably a good thing to keep doing). No more middle-of-the-night waking up because you’re worried about your Medicare patients’ well-being.

Of course you’ll want to see what shape an across-the-board cut might take, but I have to say that on the surface, it sounds like a good deal to me if it will stop the competitive bidding mess. Unless such a cut is 26 percent — the average reduction across the round one product categories and CBAs — I’d say it might even be a great deal compared to what you are facing now under competitive bidding.

And of course, there’s still an uphill battle ahead. Even though the House has come around, the Senate must get on board in time to attach language affecting the bid program to Medicare legislation they’re working to introduce in June. That could take some real dealmaking finesse in a hurry.

But you know this drill.

It’s time for you to lend a hand to reshape the future for your company, your employees and your patients. Pick up your phone. Call both of your state’s senators to tell them how you feel about competitive bidding, and ask that they speak to their colleagues on the Senate Finance Committee to keep the action moving. In addition, in case repeal of the program doesn’t make it through this year, help your national association, your state association and your buying group however you can in their efforts to delay round one.

It’s up to you to get this deal closed.

For easy connection to your legislators’ offices, call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 202/224-3121.