Flawed Bid Process Began October 21 in Pittsburgh; H.R. 3790 Would Eliminate the Bid Program, Reduce Medicare Spending, Preserve Access to Quality Care, and Save Thousands of Small Businesses
The Pennsylvania Association of Medical Suppliers and the American Association for Homecare praised a bipartisan bill in Congress, H.R. 3790, to eliminate the misguided and deeply flawed "competitive" bidding program for durable medical equipment and services in Medicare. The bidding process in this controversial program began on October 21 in the Pittsburgh metropolitan statistical areas and seven other MSAs across the U.S.
Durable, or home medical equipment, such as oxygen, wheelchairs, diabetic supplies, and hospital beds, enables seniors and people with disabilities to receive quality care at home. Home-based care represents a cost-effective alternative to institutional care, and seniors prefer to receive care at home rather than in an institution.
To ensure that seniors and taxpayers receive the savings projected for the bid program, the bill would reduce Medicare reimbursements to home medical equipment providers in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2015. At the same time, the bill will allow thousands of home medical providers to keep their doors open to serve the millions of Americans who require home-based care and will allow patients to continue to receive services from the providers of their choice.
H.R. 3790 was introduced on October 13 and has strong bipartisan support from 30 Representatives in the House including Pennsylvania Congressmen from both parties: Jason Altmire (D-Pa.), John Murtha (D-Pa.), and Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.). The introduction of the legislation came just days before the start-up of the bidding process, which began on October 21 in nine metropolitan statistical areas across the U.S. including Pittsburgh. The bid prices and bid winners would be selected in 2010 and new prices would become effective January 1, 2011. Another round of bidding would begin after that in 100 MSAs across the U.S.
"The cost of this bidding program to the Medicare beneficiary will be devastating in the long-term. I don't think that the Medicare beneficiary understands that by implementing competitive bidding, Medicare is taking away benefits right from under their noses," said Tammy Zelenko, president of Advacare Home Services in Bridgeville, Pa. Zelenko is also president of the Pennsylvania Association of Medical Suppliers.
"Medicare is the largest purchaser of home medical equipment and supplies in the country. For it to manipulate the market for home healthcare in this manner will threaten the survival of the vast majority of hard-working, medical-equipment business owners and deliver a devastating blow to patient care and choice," said John Shirvinsky, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association for Medical Suppliers.
Categories subject to the bid program include medical oxygen, which is a highly regulated prescription drug, complex rehabilitative power wheelchairs, enteral nutrients (used in tube feeding), and hospital beds, among other categories.
The initial roll-out of the bidding program in 2008 produced disastrous results for home medical equipment patients and for providers (mostly small businesses) who were excluded from Medicare as a result of the first round of bidding.
During the 2008 implementation of the bid program, serious problems emerged, including: