MIAMI — New Florida Republican Reps. David Rivera and Allen West heard about the impact of job losses under competitive bidding at their district offices' "grand opening" events, the Accredited Medical Equipment Providers of America reported last week.
Jorge Coello told Rivera that he had been the warehouse manager at AMEPA member City Medical Services in Miami for over eight years, but he lost his job in December when the company laid off half of its staff — even though the provider won a Round 1 oxygen contract.
"I thought my job was safe, because our company won the oxygen bid," Coello explained to his new congressman, "but because our company did not win the CPAPs, enteral feed, support surface, hospital beds, walkers or power wheelchair categories, our company was no longer purchasing inventory and so they no longer had a place for me."
Coello also told the congressman that he has been looking for work in the DME field for two months but no one is hiring.
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