The Little Gang That Could

As our staff readies this magazine for press, the mid-term election frenzy is in full swing with controlling seats in the House and Senate up for grabs. HomeCare’s Web poll, which asks whether it’s favorable for HME if one party or the other controls Congress, has seesawed back and forth every day. (For the final outcome, see page 10.)

On the local level, for weeks now I’ve gone home to political messages on my answering machine and a mailbox stuffed with flyers from candidates eager for my vote. In Georgia, there are dozens of hot-potato debates ranging from the governor’s personal land deals to amnesty for migrant workers.

But a committed group of HME providers in the state remains focused on one issue only — home care. As the industry mounts a final push on the Hobson-Tanner and Home Oxygen Patient Protection bills before Congress reconvenes, this grassroots group has galvanized into something akin to a strike force.

“If anything comes up, we’ll drive, we’ll fly, we’ll go wherever we can to make our statement in volume,” says HiTech Healthcare’s Todd Tyson, one of those who call themselves the “Georgia gang.”

Tyson, along with David Petsch of Petsch Respiratory Services, John Rhodes of Mountain Home Care Equipment, Tom Riddle of MRS Homecare and numerous others have called on every member of the state’s delegation for support, armed with AAHomecare’s comments on the proposed competitive bidding rule and its rebuttal of the OIG oxygen report.

The mission is time-consuming. Often it’s frustrating — in spades, these providers say — particularly when behind-the-scenes political deals don’t favor home care or when young health aides must be educated from scratch. And, of course, when Congress members don’t agree. But the group is prepared for that, too. Petsch developed a “report card” that shows whether Georgia’s congressmen have signed on to the industry bills, and the providers are circulating it to both patients and referral sources.

Will the effort pay off?

“It already has,” says Tyson. “It has changed my posture in my own community. We’ve got physicians applauding the fact that we are fighting and not lying down and letting Medicare run over us. We’ve got patients who have been bulldogs about calling people in Congress.”

He also points to the wins. Georgia now has six of 13 representatives signed on to H.R. 3559 (Hobson-Tanner), and hopefully more to come. Recently the gang met with congressional candidate Hank Johnson to get him on board early. Johnson told the group the legislation would be something he could get behind if elected. As it turned out, he defeated Rep. Cynthia McKinney in the state primary — and home care has gained another supporter should Johnson win the seat in Congress (he is widely favored).

But even if he doesn’t, and even if the gang has to start all over again after the elections, Tyson says there’s just too much at stake not to. “If we can develop and maintain relationships with these guys and have dialogue on a consistent basis instead of being so reactive, we could have some real champions here in Georgia,” he says.

If you think that sounds like Tyson is looking toward a sound future for HME, you’re right. “If 50 percent of small providers are eliminated,” he says, “then those guys were in it for a hobby and not for a living.

“I don’t have all the answers. But when all is ironed out with the final competitive bidding rule and the new Congress is voted in and things begin to stabilize, I think you will start seeing that people will find ways to survive. The providers who are committed and looking for opportunities will find them.”

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