Salvation in Doc Fix?

WATERLOO, Iowa — The infamous doc fix, long feared as a
potential threat to HME, could actually come in handy if the bill
to repeal competitive
bidding (H.R. 3790) has enough momentum in the coming months.
John Gallagher, vice president of government relations for the VGM
Group, made the point during the fourth video installment of the
member service organization’s Legislative Update series.

The so-called doc fix may still foster DME cuts to offset a
reduction in Medicare physician payments, but if the bill offered
by Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., can garner more than 216 cosponsors,
Gallagher believes the legislation can move out of committee and
gain a foothold.

“Leadership will see that there is support for this to be able
to move it either with a Medicare corrections bill later this year,
or with a doc fix sometime this summer or early fall,” said
Gallagher. “Once we get to that 216 to 220 figure, it also gives
the Senate an idea that they have support on the House side to get
this legislation moved, and we can move a companion bill into the
Senate.”

Two months away from the Heartland Conference, VGM’s political
guru remains optimistic that competitive bidding can be beaten, an
opinion shared by many HME advocates. With the impending escalation
of the bidding program to 91 cities (instead of 70) in Round 2 (see
Are You
in Round 2?), Gallagher and his VGM colleagues will soon be
traveling to Texas, Minnesota and California in a renewed push to
get over the 216-cosponsor mark by June.

The lynchpin of the multi-state tour will be a relentless focus
on the job-sapping impact of competitive bidding, a theme designed
to resonate with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

“This needs to be the mantra we carry,” urged Gallagher. “Is it
the job of Congress or of the government to put good, hardworking,
independent providers out of business, and their employees out of
business, based on a scheme that has nothing to do with
competition, but everything to do with elimination of providers and
competition?”

According to a VGM analysis, it’s likely that 100,000
home care jobs could disappear as a result of competitive
bidding. With “suicide bids” all too common, Gallagher said the
notion those jobs will be picked up by bid winners is simply not
valid.

“The bid ‘winners’ — if you want to call them that —
will have to see a market share increase of 30 to 40 percent before
they could even think of hiring new people,” Gallagher pointed out.
“What they’re actually going to have to do is ask their employees
to do a whole lot more with a whole lot less, and that only means
the beneficiary suffers.”

While the official cosponsor count for H.R. 3790 stands at 185,
Gallagher said he believes it could actually be closer to 195 with
representatives who signed on over Congress’ spring recess. The
nation’s legislators return to Washington today, so the count
should be updated sometime this week.

“We’re within about 20,” Gallagher urged. “We can get this
done.”

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