Home Health & Hospice Week

'Beneficiary access' becomes suppliers' battle cry.

Groups representing suppliers of home medical equipment are making a strong push for legislation that could delay and change the implementation of competitive bidding.

"There is no time like today to take your company's--and our industry's--future into your own hands," coached Invacare's Cara Bachenheimer recently in a prepared statement.

Two bills are most significant, says Bachen-heimer, vice president of government relations for the Elyria, OH-based firm: • The Medicare Durable Medical Equipment Access Act of 2007 (H.R. 1845) would modify the competitive bidding provisions of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 to protect patient access to quality care and protect home care providers, says the American Association for Homecare.

Introduced by Reps. John Tanner (D-TN) and David Hobson (R-OH), the bill would delay competitive bidding until the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services implements quality standards. It would also exempt smaller, rural areas (metropolitan statistical areas with populations under 500,000), and allow all qualified providers to participate at the selected award price.

The bill currently has 112 cosponsors but needs more to create enough momentum to get these important competitive bidding changes enacted into law, insiders say. • The Medicare Durable Medical Equipment Access Act of 2007 (S. 1428). This Senate bill by the same name is similar but not identical to H.R. 1845, explains AAHomecare. Introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sens. Kent Conrad (D-ND), Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Pat Roberts (R-KS), the bill now has 12 cosponsors.

Tap These Talking Points  Both bills would also do the following:  • Restore the right of providers participating in the competitive bidding program to administrative and judicial review.  • Exempt items and services unless savings of at least 10 percent can be demonstrated, compared to the fee schedule in effect Jan. 1, 2006.  • Require CMS to conduct a comparability analysis for areas that are not competitively bid to ensure the rate is appropriate to costs and does not reduce access to care.