Nearly 60 Homecare and Patient Advocacy Groups Urge Congress to Repeal Medicare's "Competitive" Bidding for Home Medical Equipment and Services

In Open Letter to Congressional Leaders, 58 Patient Advocacy Groups and Home Medical Groups Call for End to Bidding Program

ARLINGTON, Va., July 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a letter signed by 58 patient advocacy groups and home medical equipment associations, the American Association for Homecare urged Congress to pass H.R. 3790, a bill to repeal the Medicare competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment in a budget-neutral manner.  The bill currently has 252 cosponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives.  View the letter.

"Our national, state and local organizations believe that this program is fundamentally flawed and will create significant obstacles to patient care while threatening the homecare infrastructure for our nation's seniors and disabled," wrote Tyler J. Wilson, president of the American Association for Homecare in the open letter to Congress.  "The home medical equipment (HME) sector is dedicated to working with Congress to ensure H.R. 3790 will replace the troubled bidding program with a series of payment reductions for home medical equipment providers, ensuring that CBO-projected savings are met."      

The Medicare bidding program uses economic coercion to force homecare providers to submit unsustainable bids necessary to win a contract that allows the opportunity to continue serving Medicare beneficiaries.  Ultimately, the below-market rates achieved through this bidding program will force thousands of home medical equipment businesses to close, reducing competition in the long term and reducing seniors' and patients' access to care and choice of providers.

The program is scheduled to be implemented in January 2011 in nine of the largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. – Charlotte, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dallas, Kansas City, Miami, Orlando, Pittsburgh, and Riverside, Calif.

Physicians, clinicians, and hospital case managers agree, and predict that Medicare's competitive bidding program will disrupt patient's continuum of care by restricting their access to a majority of suppliers.

Medicare already faces the daunting challenge of preparing for the more than 70 million baby boomers who are about to become Medicare eligible. As America works to address its growing elderly population, the bidding program will shut out nearly 90 percent of homecare providers who currently serve the country's Medicare beneficiaries.  

With strong bipartisan support in the House of Representatives, H.R. 3790 would end the Medicare competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment in a budget-neutral manner, achieving the very same projected Medicare savings as the bidding program.

The letter reiterated providers' concerns that the bidding program will only increase the nation's growing healthcare costs in the long run.  By hindering beneficiaries' ability to stay home with trusted medical products and services, the bidding program will force patients to seek more costly hospital visits or nursing homes for care.

Signatories called for passage of the bill to eliminate the bidding program, ensuring preservation of high-quality homecare services and equipment for patients, and preventing the needless closing of HME businesses across the country, which would result in the loss of jobs in an already difficult economy.

Organizations Supporting H.R. 3790, the Bill to Repeal the Medicare Bidding Program for Home Medical Equipment and Services:

1. Accessible Home Improvement of America
2. Accredited Medical Equipment Providers of America
3. Alabama Durable Medical Equipment Association
4. The ALS Association
5. American Association for Homecare
6. American Association of People with Disabilities
7. Arizona Medical Equipment Suppliers Association
8. Association of Indiana Home Medical Equipment Suppliers
9. Big Sky Association of Medical Equipment Suppliers
10. California Association of Medical Equipment Product Suppliers
11. Cerebral Palsy Association of Ohio
12. Colorado Association for Medical Equipment Services
13. Committee to Save Independent HME Suppliers, LLC
14. Florida Alliance of Home Care Services
15. Georgia Association of Medical Equipment Suppliers
16. Health Industry Distributors Association
17. Home Care Alliance of Virginia, Inc.
18. Illinois Association for Medical Equipment Services
19. Jersey Association of Medical Equipment Services
20. Kentucky Medical Equipment Suppliers Association
21. Ms. Wheelchair Virginia
22. Maryland National Capital Homecare Association
23. The MED Group
24. The MED Group- Respiratory Network
25. The MED Group- Rehab Network
26. Medical Equipment Suppliers Association
27. Michigan Home Health Association
28. Midwest Association for Medical Equipment Services
29. Muscular Dystrophy Association
30. National Association for Home Care & Hospice
31. National Association for the Support of Long Term Care
32. National Association of Independent Medical Equipment Suppliers
33. National Coalition for Assistive and Rehab Technology
34. National Council on Independent Living
35. National Emphysema/COPD Association
36. National Registry of Rehabilitation Technology Suppliers
37. National Spinal Cord Injury Association
38. Nationwide Respiratory
39. Nevada Association of Medical Product Suppliers
40. New England Medical Equipment Dealers Association
41. New York Medical Equipment Providers Association
42. North Carolina Association for Medical Equipment Services
43. Ohio Association of Medical Equipment Services
44. Ohio Council for Home Care and Hospice
45. Orthotics Prosthetics Groups of America
46. Pacific Association for Medical Equipment Services
47. Partners in Healthcare of Virginia, LLC
48. Pennsylvania Association of Medical Suppliers
49. South Carolina Medical Equipment Suppliers Association
50. Texas Alliance of Homecare Services
51. U.S. Rehab
52. United Spinal Association 
53. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
54. VGM & Associates
55. The VGM Group, Inc.
56. Virginia Association of Durable Medical Equipment Companies
57. West Virginia Medical Equipment Suppliers Association
58. Wisconsin Association of Medical Equipment Services 

The American Association for Homecare represents durable medical equipment providers, manufacturers, and other organizations in the homecare community. Members serve the medical needs of millions of Americans who require oxygen equipment and therapy, mobility assistive technologies, medical supplies, inhalation drug therapy, home infusion, and other medical equipment and services in their homes. The Association's members operate more than 3,000 homecare locations in all 50 states. Visit www.aahomecare.org.

SOURCE American Association for Homecare