Industry’s New Rallying Call: Drive 55!

WASHINGTON — Following a Lobby Day Wednesday held in
conjunction with the American Association for Homecare’s
Legislative Conference, the number of cosponsors for H.R. 3790
climbed to 162.

“Counting Rep. Meek, that’s 163,” said provider Rob Brant,
co-owner of City Medical Services in North Miami Beach, Fla.

Meek introduced the bill to repeal DMEPOS competitive bidding in
mid-October, and proponents have been pushing for additional
cosponsors in the House ever since.

The effort got a major bump last week as conference attendees,
including more than 200 HME providers, held 300-plus Capitol Hill
meetings with legislators and their staffs about the bill. As a
result, 13 representatives signed on to H.R. 3790, and another
dozen gave verbal commitments to support the bill.

The math is important, Brant pointed out, because it will take
another 55 cosponsors to reach 218 in the House, the number at
which stakeholders believe they can persuade House members to act
on the bill.

“The last 55 will be the hardest to achieve because these
legislators are aware that their votes may be the ones that push
this bill through,” said Brant, who also serves as president of the
Accredited Medical Equipment Providers of America. “If you have
never gotten involved, now is the time,” he urged. “We can drive
55!”

In a Friday afternoon update, AAHomecare said the bipartisan
bill’s current cosponsors include 38 percent of Democrats and 37
percent of Republicans in the House.

For an official list of H.R. 3790 cosponsors, see thomas.loc.gov and type “H.R. 3790” in
the search bar.

“If your representative is not on the list,” said Cara
Bachenheimer, senior vice president of government relations for
Invacare, “you’ve got work to do.”

For more from AAHomecare’s Legislative Conference, view
one of the stories below: