Entries Tagged 'Legislative News' ↓

The Senate passed H.R.6331 Medicare Bill, on July 9, with a veto-proof 69-30 vote. President Bush had threatened a veto because of cuts to Medicare Advantage Plans. The House had previously passed the bill by a veto-proof margin of 355-59.

The bill delays competitive bidding of durable medical equipment (including oxygen) for 18-24 months. To pay for the delay, the DME industry agreed to a 9.5% cut on all items included in the first 10 bid areas.

Good News for Medicare Beneficiaries

There are several reasons this bill is good news for Medicare beneficiaries. The Medicare Bill eliminates a 10% cut in physician reimbursement that threatened to limit access to care for countless beneficiaries. The bill also eliminates title transfer of oxygen equipment after the 36-month cap, thereby maintaining the patient/provider relationship.

There were know further cuts to the oxygen and power mobility benefit, which also threatened to limit access to needed treatments and equipment.

The President has 10 days to sign or veto the bill but is expected to act much sooner. Regardless of the President’s action this bill is almost assuredly going to become law.

Expect the next Adminstration and Congress to act quickly next year on a broad Medicare Reform package. This bill simply stops some bleeding but falls short of fixing other long-term deficiencies.

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.” Continue reading →

Competitive bidding came under fire during my trip to Washington D.C. The controversial program is being questioned by an ever increasing number of legislators. Fueling much of the controversy are two unfavorable economic studies.

The first study, out of Robert Morris University, was referenced in my previous article, Competitive Bidding: An Anti-Competitive Scheme. This study was a theoretical look at the likely outcome of the national competitive bidding program. Continue reading →

A new study done by Brian O’Roark, PhD and Stephen Foreman, PhD, JD, MPA at Robert Morris University questions the long-term effects of National Competitive Bidding of durable medical equipment. The Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 required certain durable medical items be competitively bid. In theory this sounds like a great idea after all healthy competition is good. The question, is Medicare’s competitive bidding scheme healthy competition or a program to eliminate competition and empower the handful of huge companies in this industry? Continue reading →

I just returned from a health care forum with Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. Chairman Baucus has been traveling across Montana the past couple of days trying to get information on our health care system.

The forum was very constructive. The single greatest asset I love about Montana is the honesty and integrity of the people. Those qualities were evident as the discussion progressed from problems within the health care system to ideas on fixing them. Continue reading →