Roberts Hangs Tough for HME in Senate Budget Hearing

WASHINGTON–HME champion Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., grilled
Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt about cuts to the
sector during a Senate Finance Committee hearing Wednesday on
President Bush’s 2009 budget proposal.

Roberts’ remarks condemned proposals that would reduce the
current oxygen rental cap from 36 to 13 months and eliminate the
first-month purchase option for power wheelchairs.

“I agree that we need to return to a policy of fiscal
responsibility and get a handle on the growth in Medicare and
Medicaid spending so these programs are viable and sustainable for
future generations,” Roberts said. “However, I certainly do not
want to be in the business of tying the hands of our health care
providers, especially those in our rural areas, and ultimately
harming our seniors and low-income populations by restricting their
access to care.”

Roberts told Leavitt he was “disappointed” the budget calls for
further reduction in the oxygen rental period, and said he was
particularly concerned about the effects of competitive
bidding.

“Home oxygen patients and providers are already about to undergo
tremendous change in the next 10 months due to the implementation
of the competitive bidding program, which has created confusion and
exasperation among home health providers,” Roberts said. “In fact,
we are still waiting to hear from CMS on how many contracts were
awarded for round one of the program–even though CMS has announced
plans to move to round two in 70 more cities later this year
without any evidence of success–or failure!”

Roberts said he was going on record to oppose reductions to
oxygen reimbursement and other cuts to home care until Congress can
review the impact of existing Medicare regulations, including the
effects of competitive bidding, describing the current squeeze on
HME providers as “a perfect storm.”

“What worries me is that you won’t have enough home care
providers to even have Medicare,” he told Leavitt.

Leavitt, however, said competitive bidding would save more than
20 percent across all the product categories in round one and
described the bidding program as the “fair way” to reduce DME
prices in Medicare.

During the hearing, committee chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said
the proposed budget’s overall Medicare spending reduction “smacks
of the meat-ax.”

“You’ve asked for huge Draconian cuts, which this Congress is
not going to make,” Baucus said. “We’re not going to solve the
problem [of growing health care costs] by just whacking the
bejeebies out of Medicare.”

View a press release on Sen. Roberts’ remarks at the
hearing.