House hearing gives momentum to MPP bill

ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 12, 2012—According to AAHomecare, the congressional hearing held Sept. 11 on the Medicare bidding program brought to lawmakers’ attention an excellent summary of the severe problems with the bidding program and the need to replace it with the Market Pricing Program (MPP). Key witnesses before the House Small Business Subcommittee on Health and Technology were AAHomecare member Tammy Zelenko, president of AdvaCare, and University of Maryland economist Peter Cramton, Ph.D.

The hearing provides a boost to efforts of Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) who is working to introduce a bill to replace the current bidding program with MPP. That bill’s text is currently being reviewed by legislative counsel in the House of Representatives as a precursor to introduction of the bill. But while the bill goes through that required process, it is vitally important to secure original cosponsors from both political parties now that Congress is back in session. Please take the following steps:

• E-mail or call your Representative and urge him or her to sign on to the MPP bill as an original cosponsor. The Capitol switchboard number is 202-224-3121.
• Your Representative should contact Rep. Price’s office to confirm his or her support for the MPP bill.
• You can refer to the issue brief and bill summary for the MPP here as well as answers to FAQs here to explain the issue.
• If you have already contacted your Representative about the bill, please follow up and ask if he or she has signed on as an original cosponsor.

For those who missed yesterday’s hearing, watch the video here. You can read the full text of the written testimony from each witness here.