Online petition gains traction in fight against competitive bidding

An online petition against competitive bidding gained traction last week ahead of AAHomecare’s Washington Legislative Conference Feb. 15 and 16. The petition, which was the brainchild of an HME provider’s daughter, quickly attracted 1,500 signatures and support from 15 state and regional HME associations.

It originated with Peter Falkson and Eric Cohen of National Sleep Therapies, members of the New England Medical Equipment Dealers Association (NEMED), and started with a conversation Falkson had at home about competitive bidding.

“I was talking to my wife about competitive bidding telling her how it was so poorly aligned,” Falkson told the NEMED. “My daughter, Zoe, was in the room listening and she said, ‘Dad, this is easy. You just need to do what we did in my class. Tell the world your story and if it is a good story, they will cause the change.'”

Zoe, 14, had participated in a petition drive that prompted Universal Studios to change a trailer that was incorrectly marketing a movie entitled “The Lorax.”

“They used a website called Change.org to create an online petition that ended up going viral,” Falkson said. “It worked for her class so I took her advice.”

The petition is still available online for signatures.