HME Gets Another Chance with ‘Tanner-Hobson’ Bill

WASHINGTON–In a move championed by industry advocates, on
Thursday, U.S. Rep. John Tanner, D-Tenn., introduced a bill
designed to “assure access to durable medical equipment under the
Medicare program.”

H.R. 1845, the “Medicare Durable Medical Equipment Access Act of
2007,” is co-sponsored by Reps. David Hobson, R-Ohio, and Mike
Ross, D-Ark. The proposed legislation is a new version of the
Hobson-Tanner bill introduced last year, which failed to make it
through congressional channels before the end of the term.

“We made a few minor changes, but the bill is essentially the
same as the one submitted last year,” said Randy Ford, Tanner’s
communications director. “Hopefully, this is the year we’ll have
some legislative success with it.”

The Tanner-Hobson bill is aimed at ensuring accessibility for
Medicare beneficiaries and fairness to HME providers under the
impending competitive bidding project. The Medicare Modernization
Act of 2003 mandates competitive bidding, and CMS is scheduled to
implement the program this year.

According to its language, H.R. 1845 would amend the current
mandate so that any HME provider could participate in Medicare “at
the selected award price so long as they submit bids at less than
the fee schedule amount otherwise applicable to the items and they
otherwise comply with applicable program requirements.” In other
words, the bill would allow any qualified provider who has
submitted a bid below the current allowable to continue doing
Medicare business.

The bill also calls for a complete analysis of the impact of
competitive bidding once it has been fully implemented in the first
10 cities. That analysis would include impact on beneficiary access
to quality products and impact on providers of items and services
covered under the project.

In addition, the bill would prohibit expansion of the
competitive bidding program or the application of the bid rates to
non-bid areas unless specifically authorized by Congress after the
date of H.R. 1845’s enactment.

The American Association for Homecare praised the
re-introduction of the bill and pledged to “vigorously seek” more
cosponsors.

“The home care community applauds the leadership of these
congressmen,” said Tyler Wilson, AAHomecare president. “The current
law for competitive bidding threatens to reduce access to care for
home care patients served by the Medicare program. The new bill
would help to ensure that home care providers can continue to
compete in a fair program.”

The text of the bill should be available shortly at http://thomas.loc.gov.