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LAWMAKERS' HOLIDAY WRANGLING MAY NOT BRING JOY

Published on Tue Nov 13, 2007

Last minute 'fix' could break suppliers.

"It's never too late" is a motto you may want to take to heart if you're a supplier of home medical equipment--particularly if wheelchairs or oxygen are part of your product line.

In recent days, stakeholders have watched nervously to see if problematic proposals affecting suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS) might weather Congress' year-end flurry of legislative activity.

Storm brewing: On Dec. 5, Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-MT) canceled plans to mark up Medicare legislation that included provisions affecting HME suppliers--including a provision to end the first-month purchase option for wheelchairs.

Instead, Baucus is negotiating directly with House Democrats on the measure, insiders report. "Suddenly, we are left with legislators locked away in a room trying to work out their differences," cautions Walt Gorski of the American Association for Homecare.

Background: Motivating Baucus' strategic move in part was President Bush's pledge to veto any bill that included cuts to Medicare Advantage plans.

"The leadership in Congress is backing up to see if they can get a [Medicare] bill through at all," explains Wayne Stanfield of the National Association of Independent Medical Equipment Suppliers in Halifax, VA.

For HME suppliers, that means immediate uncertainty about where provisions relating to oxygen and wheelchairs will land.

With the mark-up scratched, legislators are scrambling to find a new way to address hot Medicare topics including the major question of how to fund a reprieve for physicians faced with a 10 percent Medicare pay cut. "Funding options" include cuts to reimbursement for oxygen equipment and services as well as the elimination of the first month purchase option for wheelchairs.

Possibilities: Lawmakers may choose to include those provisions in an omnibus spending bill under consideration. A second plan might be tagging the Medicare-related provisions onto legislation aimed at revamping the Alternative Minimum Tax.

"Providers should be watching very closely," advises Gorski. "It's never too early or too late to speak out." He adds, "home medical equipment providers are very vulnerable."

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