WASHINGTON — The HME industry's cries may not have stymied competitive bidding, but at least Congress is listening.
The House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee has scheduled a hearing on the Medicare bidding program tomorrow, sending advocates into high gear urging stakeholders to contact their representatives immediately to air their views.
“We have heard from both suppliers and beneficiary advocates that the DMEPOS competitive bidding program is not working as well as it is supposed to,” said subcommittee Chairman Fortney “Pete” Stark, D-Calif. “I look forward to hearing their concerns, as well as from CMS, as we consider whether changes need to be made before the program is further expanded.”
For months, an array of industry organizations and advocates has encouraged providers to educate legislators on problems with the bidding program and ask them to slow its implementation. Lighting up the phone lines apparently helped, as the Ways and Means hearing advisory cited concerns that “some suppliers were improperly excluded from the bidding process and beneficiary access to certain types of equipment could be reduced in areas affected by the program.”
In addition, industry complaints about an inventory of problems with the bidding program--the overlooking of small providers, a flawed certification/application process, unfair bidder exclusions and an excessively short period (10 days) for contract acceptance in round one--have also gained attention, and inquiries to CMS from both congressional chambers have risen steadily in recent months.
House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, has called on Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt to delay round one “until the mistakes and irregularities can be remedied.” Last month, a group of eight senators led by Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, fired off a letter to Leavitt seeking a meeting to address what they termed “widespread issues” pertaining to the DMEPOS bid.
And last week, officials at Pride Mobility notified Leavitt of "potential problems" with power wheelchair bids in the Riverside, Calif., CBA and called for a full investigation, adding to the mounting pressure for government officials to respond (see story in this issue).
Nevertheless, CMS leaders have said repeatedly they intend to implement competitive bidding as planned, with round one to take effect July 1. The agency has scheduled a national provider training call about the program for Tuesday, May 13.
At tomorrow’s hearing, the American Association for Homecare will present testimony along with senior officials from CMS and other invited witnesses. But industry stakeholders must also keep up the pressure, AAHomecare urged.
In a special Friday edition of its newsletter, the Midwest Association for Medical Equipment Services implored members to continue the fight against competitive bidding. “It does impact everyone even if you are not in round one or two,” MAMES said. “We are hearing every day throughout the country that local state payers are beginning to adopt some of the fee schedule items for round one competitive bidding.”
The National Association of Independent Medical Equipment Suppliers has issued a similar warning, pointing to a recently amended United Mine Workers of America contract that applies round one fees to any patients living in a competitive bidding area. The contract states that suppliers will be paid the lesser of the contract fee or the competitive bid fee for patients living inside or moving inside any of the 80 CBAs targeted for the program.
“This is another unintended and serious consequence of competitive bidding,” said Wayne Stanfield, NAIMES president and CEO. “We have been concerned about this happening; it just came sooner than expected.”
The organization said last week it has mailed a “STOP Competitive Bidding” pack to all 100 members of the Senate--which is currently working on Medicare legislation--including a CD with a 5,200-signature petition asking Congress to stop the program. In light of tomorrow’s hearing, the packs have also been sent to all members on the House Ways and Means Committee.
To support its testimony in tomorrow afternoon’s hearing, AAHomecare is asking “all providers and manufacturers to contact their members of Congress prior to the event to state their concerns with the flawed bidding program. This is especially important for those whose representative in the U.S. House sits on the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee.”
Those congressional representatives are:
- Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stark, D- Calif.
- Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas
- Mike Thompson, D-Calif.
- Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill.
- Xavier Becerra, D-Calif.
- Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D.
- Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio
- Ron Kind, D-Wisc.
- Ranking Member Dave Camp, R-Mich.
- Sam Johnson, R-Texas
- Jim Ramstad, R-Minn.
- Philip English, R-Pa.
- Kenny Hulshof, R-Mo.
The hearing will begin at 1 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday, May 6) in the Longworth House Office Building.
To contact House members, call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 202/224-3121 and ask for your representative's office.
To submit comments for inclusion in the hearing record, go to the House Ways and Means Committee Web site at http://waysandmeans.house.gov. Select “Committee Hearings” from the top navigation bar, then choose the May 6 hearing titled “Medicare's DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program.”
Are you hopeful that, with industry efforts in full swing, Congress/CMS will suspend round one of competitive bidding? To vote in HomeCare's monthly Web poll, visit www.homecaremag.com.