CBO Score Next Step for H.R. 3790

WASHINGTON — When Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., introduced
H.R. 3790 on Oct. 13, 2009, the bill had only 16 cosponsors. In the
six months since, HME providers have united in an effort to gain
the backing of additional legislators and raise the bill’s chances
for action. Last week they hit their mark.

Now at 216 supporters (counting Meek), the bill that would
repeal competitive
bidding has pushed into majority territory in the House of
Representatives with only 431 members currently seated.

“It’s a fantastic achievement,” enthused Rob Brant, owner of
City Medical Services in North Miami Beach, Fla., and president of
the Accredited Medical Equipment Providers of America. “It’s really
a tribute to everyone working together toward a common goal —
all of the state associations, the national associations and member
groups were involved. It’s nice to see that happen.”

The bill offers an alternative to DMEPOS competitive bidding,
using instead a series of reimbursement cuts and a CPI freeze as a
“pay-for” to offset the savings Medicare would gain from the
bidding system. But “we lost part of the pay-for in [health
reform], so that will have to be adjusted,” Brant said.

The next step in moving the bill forward is to get it scored by
the Congressional Budget Office, which will estimate how much the
bill will cost. Once the CBO score is released, the industry can
see what other pay-fors may be necessary, Brant said.

He is hopeful legislators who have signed on to H.R. 3790 will
rally to move it out of committee — it rests with the Energy
and Commerce and Ways and Means committees for consideration
— after the CBO score comes out.

That has to happen sooner rather than later, he said.

CMS is on track to release pricing information for Round 1, set
to be implemented in January 2011 across nine of the nation’s
largest MSAs, in June. That’s also when Congress is expected to act
on so-called “doc fix” legislation, which stakeholders see as a
potential vehicle to carry H.R. 3790.

“That gives us 35 days from [today] to get the score and get a
champion in the Senate to introduce a companion bill,” Brant
said.

“We’ve accomplished a really great thing, but we’re not done
yet,” he emphasized. “Even though we’re at a majority, people need
to continue to get their legislators signed on. We would love to
see 230 to 260 representatives on the bill to make sure we can move
it.”

“Getting half of the House of Representatives on this bill is a
remarkable, historic achievement for the HME sector that providers
should be proud of,” said Michael Reinemer, vice president,
communications and policy, for the American Association for
Homecare.

Reinemer pointed out that previous competitive bidding bills
haven’t made it this far. H.R. 3559 garnered 151 cosponsors in the
109th Congress, and H.R. 1845 gained 168 in the 110th Congress.
Those bills, he reminded, would have modified the bidding program,
not repealed it.

But at the same time, Reinemer said, getting to this point “is
only one piece of the battle. We need the H.R. 3790 language in a
bill that will move to the House floor before the clock runs out in
the 111th Congress, and the clock is ticking.

“We need both a bill and the same type of broad support in the
U.S. Senate. So we are ramping up those efforts.”

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