BUENA PARK, Calif. — Hoping to generate support for H.R. 3790 among California's 53 federal representatives — only four of whom had previously signed on to the bill, which would repeal competitive bidding — the Accredited Medical Equipment Providers of America and the California Association of Medical Product Suppliers convened a two-day rally last week in Buena Park, Calif.
AMEPA President Rob Brant kicked off the event on a positive note, announcing that Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., had thrown her support behind the bill, pumping up the number of cosponsors to 141.
But Esta Willman, a CAMPS member and also a member of CMS' Program Advisory and Oversight Committee, brought more sobering news when she outlined the agenda for the upcoming Feb. 23 PAOC meeting in Baltimore.
While California's Riverside County is one of the nine MSAs in Round 1 of bidding, more than three-quarters of the 70 event attendees came from neighboring counties such as Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego. So at the news the PAOC will be considering how to subdivide the Los Angeles MSA, "you could hear the air being sucked out of the room," one attendee said.
"I think the reality of the program stunned the Round 2 providers when they learned how focused CMS is on pushing this program beyond Round 1," said Willman, owner of Medi-Source Equipment and Supply in Yucca Valley, Calif.
That in mind, numerous volunteers stepped up to visit the state's congressmen along with Brant and Sean Schwinghammer, AMEPA executive director.
Jim Leedom, owner of Home Health Depot in Lomita, part of the Los Angeles MSA, was one of them.
"The rally was a great opportunity to learn about the problems that affected the Riverside MSA and will likely occur again," he said. "I always wished there was something I could have done to stop the 36-month oxygen cap and other congressional decisions that have affected my businesses and the patients I serve. I feel compelled to do my part to stop competitive bidding today, even though it will not immediately impact my patients or my business."
Members of the group visited the offices of 10 legislators during the event to ask for support of H.R. 3790, which they pointed out would "give the government the same projected savings without closing businesses or limiting a patient's access to quality products and timely services."
For most of the Congress members' district staff, rally organizers said, "it was the first time that they heard about the problems [in the] area, inexperienced and unlicensed bid winners and the reduction of over 50 percent of the area's oxygen providers due to the October implementation of mandatory accreditation and $50,000 surety bond."
"Rob and I visited with Congressman Ken Calvert's district office staff ... He did a wonderful job of explaining the program to the staffers, and began the process of gaining the congressman's support on the issue," recounted Chris Rice of Diamond Respiratory Care in Riverside.
The rally was sponsored by AirSep, Invacare, The MED Group, Philips/Respironics, Pride, ResMed and The VGM Group.
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