Page 8 - HME Business, December 2017

News / Trends / Analysis
Rural Relief, O2 ‘Double Dip’ Bill Hits the House
H.R. 4229 would provide relief to rural and non-bid area providers impacted by bid expansion, as well as reform oxygen ‘double dip’ reimbursement cut.
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Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa) have introduced into the House the Protecting Home Oxygen & Medical Equipment Access Act, a bill that would provide relief to rural and non-bid areas that
have been impacted by the national expansion of competitive bidding, as well as rectify the “double-dip” cuts on oxygen reimbursement.
The bill, catalogued as H.R. 4229, was launched with 53 original co-sponsors, and has two key thrusts:
• It would effectively roll back the second round of
cuts for non-bid area suppliers, effective retroac-
tively to January 1, 2017 and through 2018.
• It would address rate cuts caused by the misap-
plication of a 2006 budget neutrality offset balancing increased utilization for oxygen gener- ating portable equipment with lower reimburse- ment for stationary equipment.
The full text of the legislative language is avail- able as a PDF at bit.ly/2gZ5rOD and the bill can be monitored on the Library of Congress site at bit. ly/2znFN0j.
“The strong original co-sponsor support for this legislation demonstrates Congress’ appreciation
of the urgent need to get back to a sustainable reimbursement schedule for suppliers serving patients in rural communities,” said Tom Ryan, president and CEO of the American Association for Homecare. “I hope that HME suppliers and other stakeholders in our industry will let their Representatives in the House know how important this legislation is for their ability to serve patients in rural America.
“There’s no getting around the fact there are a lot of other issues competing for attention on Capitol Hill as we enter the last two months of the year,” he added. “It’s critical that the HME community makes its voice heard in support of this bill over the next few weeks to build support for this bill.”
Providers lobbying their lawmakers on behalf of the bill can obtain issue briefs on rural reimbursement relief at bit.ly/2AbhAsh and the O2 “double dip” cuts at bit.ly/2z9rdtI. If they need additional help contacting their lawmakers, such as contact information for Representatives’ healthcare legislative assistants, they can reach AAHomecare’s Gordon Barnes at gordonb@ aahomecare.org. n
Providers Urged to Help H.R. 3730
As the weeks and months tick by, NCART is reminding CRT providers that they must back the CRT accessories bill.
UPCOMING COVERAGE
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and subscribe to e-Source during December to monitor the industry’s push to advance H.R. 4229, which would provide rural bidding relief and x the oxygen “double dip,” as well as H.R. 3730, which would protect access to manual CRT wheelchair accessories.
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The National Coalition for Assistive and Rehab Technology (NCART) is reminding providers that as the year draws to a close, their help is urgently needed to advance a bill that would product accessories used for manual CRT wheelchairs.
The bill, H.R. 3730, was introduced into the House by Reps. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) and John Larson (D-Conn.) in September, and so far the bill has 47 co-sponsors. Don Clayback, executive director of NCART reminded providers that their action is needed to get their Representatives to co-sponsor the bill.
“This year is quickly coming to a close and
Congress is busier than ever,” he said. “We need thousands of CRT stakeholders to write and call their Representatives to ask them to cosponsor and pass H.R. 3730, which would prevent CMS from applying Competitive Bid pricing to accesso- ries used with CRT Manual Wheelchairs.”
Clayback reminded providers that getting started with supporting the bill takes less than ve minutes. Providers can start by going to the H.R. 3730 section at www.protectmymobility.org to obtain prepared emails and talking points that should help them quickly reach out to their Representatives and urge them to sign onto the bill. n
8 HMEBusiness | December 2017 | hme-business.com
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