If You’re Not at the Table, You’re on the Menu

WASHINGTON — Rumbles that Democrats are huddling on a
health reform bill that could be pushed through Congress without
Republican votes has put HME advocates back on full guard. House
and Senate Democrats said last week they were close to agreement on
a compromise bill, but they gave no details.

Before the stall on health reform, both House and Senate
versions of the legislation contained a number of provisions that
would have negative effects on the industry, but it is provisions
in the Senate bill — expansion of competitive bidding and an
excise tax on medical device manufacturers, among others —
that are most worrisome.

“The key is that the provisions that were in the Senate bill
— mainly the acceleration of competitive bidding to 100 CBAs
and the manufacturer tax — do not make it into a combined
bill or one from the president,” said John Gallagher, vice
president of government relations for Waterloo, Iowa-based VGM
Group.

However, he fears they might.

“I am guessing at this point, but since they are ‘pay fors’ or
used as savings, I would bet they are,” Gallagher said.

Michael Reinemer, vice president, communications and policy, for
the American Association for Homecare, questions whether
legislators could muster the votes to pass a compromise bill.

“Since the momentum behind health reform suffered a big setback
with the election of Sen. Scott Brown [R-Mass.], it’s hard to know
whether all the parties in Congress are going to be willing to
saddle up and corral the needed votes, especially in an election
year,” he said. “But … the threats to HME are not going
away.”

Seth Johnson, vice president of government affairs for Pride
Mobility Products, Exeter, Pa., acknowledged there were more
questions than answers and pointed out President Obama is working
on his own plan.

“The administration is currently working on a bill, which, for
the first time, will outline the president’s priorities” on how to
change the country’s health system, Johnson said.

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen
Sebelius told reporters last week that the president’s plan would
be posted online (expected today) in advance of the highly
publicized summit, which will be televised live.

“There will be one proposal,” she said, noting that it would
“take some of the best ideas [of both the House and Senate bills]
and put them into a framework for moving forward.”

“As to what that means for our industry issues, that remains
unclear, but that should come into more of a focus following the
Feb. 25 bipartisan health care summit,” Johnson said.

That will be just ahead of AAHomecare’s March 1-3 Legislative
Conference in Washington, where stakeholders are hoping to make
some headway on support for H.R. 3790 to repeal competitive
bidding. As of Friday, the official cosponsor count for the bill
was 140.

Aiming to beef up that number, the Accredited Medical Equipment
Providers of America held a Feb. 11 rally in conjunction with the
California Association of Medical Products Suppliers. (See Reality of Round 2
Hits Home at California Rally, Feb. 15.) The group will hold a
similar event in Chicago on Thursday in partnership with the
Illinois Association for Medical Equipment Services and VGM. There
are currently 0 of 11 legislators from Cook, DuPage and Lake
counties (which make up the Chicago MSA) cosponsoring the bill, the
group said.

As well, the National Association of Independent Medical
Equipment Suppliers today concludes its “SOS Week — Save Our
Jobs, Protect our Patients,” a week-long call-in urging legislators
to sign on to H.R. 3790.

Representative of both groups are headed to the AAHomecare
conference to see lawmakers again.

“The timing for the health summit is interesting, coming just a
few days before hundreds of HME advocates will be in Washington
… to speak up about the importance of preserving and
strengthening home care,” Reinemer said. “We have to assume that
virtually all of the legislative threats to HME remain on the
table, so early March will be an important time to weigh in.

“There are a number of Washington interest groups that are
looking for HME cuts to pay for the expansion of health care
coverage to more Americans,” he said.

“If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.”