Senate Introduces Competitive Bidding Delay Bill

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) yesterday introduced legislation that would delay implementation of the durable medical equipment competitive bidding program. This is a Senate companion bill to the Stark-Camp bill H.R. 6252 introduced in the House Ways and Means Committee.
“This is important legislation for Medicare beneficiaries,” said Baucus. “Durable medical equipment can give seniors the freedom to live at home, and so it’s important to maintain a reliable system in Medicare to provide these vital items. I am supportive of competitive bidding as a means of reducing cost, but that cannot be accomplished at the expense of low quality and inconsistent care. The competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment should stay on hold until it’s certain that seniors will get the products they need in a way that works for them.”

Under the Baucus-Grassley bill, contracts awarded under round one would be terminated and those areas re-bid. New round one contracts would then take effect in 18 to 24 months. Round two contracts could not take effect before January 2011 and payment adjustments for DMEPOS in non-competitive bid areas could not take effect until round two is completed.

Get involved to protect your benefits

These bills enjoy broad support that gives the competitive bidding delay an excellent chance of being signed into law. A delay to competitive bidding allows time for Congress and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to make necessary changes to a deeply flawed program. Beneficiaries should be contacting their representatives in Congress and asking them to support this delay. Without the delay CMS will move forward with a competitive bidding program that promises to lower quality, access and ultimately cost more.

Good news for Medicare beneficiaries

Congress, for the most part, is beginning to realize the importance and cost savings of non-institutional care. A vast majority of people with serious illnesses have stated they would rather live out their lives at home. The institutional lobby has been effective at quieting this type of information for some time. With the ever increasing cost of health care in America, some in Congress are taking a second look at caring for people outside of the institutional setting.

Home care has been cut constantly for the past decade or more. Many areas of home care are on the verge of collapse. Competitive bidding promised to put thousands of small companies out of business. New cuts in the face of rising inflation would have severely cut into the quality of products and services available to Medicare beneficiaries.

Fortunately, Congress seems to have opened their collective eyes just in time.

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