HALIFAX, Va., March 7, 2013—What’s the result of 125 supplier representatives having 250 Hill meetings? A nudge of the needle toward a better understanding of the DME bidding problems. NAIMES, VGM, and AAHomecare and more than a dozen state DME organizations were on the Hill Feb 26-27. More than 125 advocates walked many miles and had more than 250 Hill appointments in the two days. The result was that the message was heard. There was no push back as usual. Lawmakers and their staff members listened and heard. The needle moved in a positive direction. Now we must keep the calls, emails, and faxes going to Congress. There is concern in Washington about what CMS is doing and there is support for our concerns. Don’t let this rest. Share all of your stories with your legislators to help them understand that the flawed program will be harmful to patient access, to small business, and to jobs.
CMS is pushing this disaster on Americans. They are not listening. They are using their position as dictator to advance an agenda that is morally wrong. Let’s tell Congress “Not In America!” When you contact Congress, think about the answer to these questions that you will likely be asked by your legislators and their staff:
• How will this impact my company, jobs, patients, referrals?
• Why did suppliers bid low?
• Why did suppliers accept contracts with unsustainable prices?
Think about how to tell Congress about these issues:
• How can a single location supplier with one location and no patients serve dozens, even hundreds of contracts?
• How can a supplier’s bid be legitimate when their only goal is to sell the company and the contracts?
• How can the entire Medicare DME beneficiary community be served by 867 companies when before the bid, over 6,000 suppliers were providing service in these same 91 areas?
• How can 15 companies serve the entire Medicare diabetic testing user community when nearly half of those offered contracts are not currently in the mail-order business?
Call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121. Also visit www.dmehelp.org.