Consumer Group Challenges DRA

Washington

A consumer-rights organization has filed a lawsuit that claims the Deficit Reduction Act is unconstitutional because the House of Representatives did not approve the version signed by President Bush.

Public Citizen, a consumer watchdog group founded by Ralph Nader, filed the suit last month in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The DRA cuts spending for Medicare, Medicaid and other mandatory programs by $38.8 billion over five years. Of greatest concern to the HME industry is a provision that caps Medicare rental of oxygen equipment at 36 months. Another provision caps other DME items at 13 months.

As the legislation was passed back and forth between the chambers last year, a typo involving the DME rental cap was inserted into the House version. The Senate passed a version of the bill without the typo, which was then sent to the president.

“[The March 21] lawsuit simply requests the court to uphold the Constitution,” said Adina Rosenbaum, a Public Citizen attorney. “The entire law is invalid because the law the House passed is different from the law the Senate passed and the president signed.”

The suit is the second that has been filed since Bush signed the DRA into law on Feb. 8.

Jim Zeigler, an Alabama attorney who specializes in Medicaid cases, filed a suit in February challenging the bill’s constitutionality.

“I expect dozens of lawsuits against the DRA, because its constitutional flaw is clear and obvious,” Zeigler said, adding that he expects senior citizens dependent on oxygen to join the suits soon as plaintiffs.