New Hobson Legislation Would Modify NCB

WASHINGTON–During the coming weeks, one of the HME industry’s
chief advocates on Capitol Hill plans to introduce a bill that
would modify the DME competitive bidding provision in the Medicare
Modernization Act.

Rep. David Hobson, R-Ohio, has been a vocal opponent of
competitive bidding “from the start,” said Cara Bachenheimer, vice
president of government relations for Invacare Corp., Elyria, Ohio.
The new legislation is expected to be introduced before Congress’
July 4 recess, she said.

Speaking at the American Association for Homecare’s Washington
Leadership Conference, Bachenheimer outlined components of the
bill, which would:

• Require CMS to implement quality standards at the same time as
  competitive bidding.
• Restore the judicial appeal rights for providers participating
  in the bidding program. (The MMA takes away that right for bidding
  providers.)
• Exempt rural areas with 500,000 or fewer people from the
  bidding program.
• Require CMS to go through a formal process to demonstrate that
  competitive bid rates are appropriate for non-bid areas. (The MMA
  gives CMS the right to apply competitively bid rates to non-bid
  geographic areas in 2009.)
• Require CMS to show the “reasonable likelihood” of significant
  savings for a product before selecting it for competitive
  bidding.
• Subject the Program Advisory and Oversight Committee–formed to
  advise CMS on implementation of the bidding program–to provisions
  of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, a sunshine law that ensures
  meeting proceedings, minutes, transcripts and other materials are
  available to the public.

While the bill would not repeal the competitive bidding mandate,
Bachenheimer said, “the objective is to make [the process] more
rational than it currently is. Mr. Hobson … is considering the
impact on small business across the country.”

Hobson also sponsored last year’s H.R. 4491, a bill that would
have repealed 2005’s MMA-mandated DME reimbursement cuts, and was
presented with an award from AAHomecare honoring him as one of four
“Legislators of the Year.” The association also presented awards to
Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho; Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.; and Rep.
Harold Ford, Jr., D-Tenn.