Congressional leaders have appointed a 20-member conference committee tasked with working on a full-year extension of the payroll tax cut and the so-called “doc fix” to ensure physicians' Medicare reimbursement is not cut at the beginning of March. The committee is expected to start meeting the week of Jan. 16.
HME advocates are attempting to attach legislation on the doc fix bill that would modify the Competitive Bidding Program, which is in the process of expanding to 91 metropolitan areas. HME advocates want a market pricing program (MPP) to replace competitive bidding, and say it would provide Medicare beneficiaries better service, preserve more HME companies and save the government money.
The American Association for Homecare wants HME providers to ask their representatives and senators to include the MPP proposal in the doc fix bill. “Time is short,’’ the association said in a release last week. These are the conference committee members:
House Republicans:
Dave Camp (Mich.)
Fred Upton (Mich.)
Kevin Brady (Texas)
Renee Ellmers (N.C.)
Nan Hayworth (N.Y.)
Tom Reed (N.Y.)
Tom Price (Ga.)
Greg Walden (Ore.)
House Democrats:
Chris Van Hollen (Md.)
Sander Levin (Mich.)
Xavier Becerra (Calif.)
Allyson Schwartz (Pa.)
Henry Waxman (Calif.)
Senate Democrats:
Max Baucus (Mt.)
Ben Cardin (Md.)
Jack Reed (R.I.)
Bob Casey (Pa.)
Senate Republicans:
Jon Kyl (Ariz.)
Sen. Mike Crapo (Idaho)
John Barrasso (Wy.)
Monday, January 9, 2012