CARY, N.C. – We understand any reluctance to delay a process that was expected to produce a rate increase, but the COVID-19 crisis has changed everything. Reducing capacity in bid areas in the aftermath of the pandemic would further reduce capacity when it it most needed even with higher rates.
Bids that HME companies submitted in the Fall of 2019 for the next bidding round will not reflect new realities for the healthcare industry in 2021 and beyond. Ask your Rep in the House to join a Congressional sign-on letter that requests CMS delay Round 2021 of the Bidding Program for at least one year – and allow HME to make its strongest possible contribution to responding to the current healthcare crisis.
Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa) today released a “Dear Colleague” letter asking their fellow House members to join a sign-on letter urging CMS to delay the Competitive Bidding Program for one year or through the duration of the Public Health Emergency (whichever is longer). The “Dear Colleague” letter and related sign-on letter can be found here. With all the supply chain disruptions, higher prices on almost everything, and the uncertainty about the near future, we need to start the bidding process over—after the “new normal” has been defined.
Send a letter to your Representative with the content already written and properly addressed by clicking this link. All you need to know is your zip code—your residence, not your business location—if asked for the last four digits and you don’t know them, click here. Our office will contact each Member of the House on behalf of ATHOMES, but they need to hear you. Make sure you copy [email protected] on the email to them!
Beth Bowen is executive director for: Atlantic Coast Medical Equipment Services Association (ACMESA) overseeing North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia; Association for Tennessee Home Oxygen & Medical Equipment Services (ATHOMES); Florida Alliance of Home Care Services (FAHCS); and Northeast Medical Equipment Providers Association (NEMEP) serving New York and New Jersey.