In a Washington Post article published on June 10, Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.), chairman of the Ways and Means subcommittee on health, said “he plans to introduce legislation as soon as this week to delay the program by 18 months. But his cooperation comes at a price: The industry must agree to cuts in current fees equivalent to the projected savings of the bidding program.”
The Associated Press national wire story released Sunday, June 8 on congressional concerns about the bidding program. John Reed, executive vice president of PRO2 Respiratory Services in Cincinnati, was quoted as saying, people also need to factor in the cost of deliveries for portable oxygen, for providing a respiratory therapist to set up the machine, for putting in place a backup system in case something goes wrong with the concentrator, for taxes, billing costs and for writing off expenses when a patient can't afford to pay all their co-payment.
"We've provided so much value-added service and care that we've put ourselves in a position to be judged by what the base unit cost," Reed said.
The AP article appears on the websites of several dozen news organizations throughout the US. The Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Austin American-Statesman also had stories on competitive bidding.
AAHomecare communications staff will continue intense media relations on bidding and other HME issues in the weeks ahead, including a teleconference to help instruct providers about working with their media locally to generate news about our key issues and to place issue advertisements created as part of the Stand Up for Homecare Campaign.
We encourage you to post comments on to these stories by visiting the links below.
Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/09/AR2008060902585.html?hpid=moreheadlines
Cleveland Plain Dealer: http://www.cleveland.com/editorials/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1211044516121880.xml&coll=2
Austin American-Statesman: http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/medicare_monitor/entries/2008/06/04/lawmakers_urge_delay_in_bid_pr.html
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