The American Association for Homecare just reported that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) has been making news on Capitol Hill. Recently, he told Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that people and businesses “have no idea what to do, what to expect” from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and he’s worried about a “huge train wreck coming down” if the Administration doesn’t improve its public outreach about the legislation.
Then, he made a surprising announcement last week, declaring that he will retire at the end of his term in 2014. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) is next in line to become Chairman of the Finance Committee. Former Montana governor Brian Schweitzer is expected to enter the 2014 race for Baucus’s Senate seat.
The Senate Finance Committee has jurisdiction of the Medicare program and plays a key role in the HME community's efforts to pass legislation that replaces the disastrous Medicare bidding initiative with a transparent, sustainable market-pricing program proposed in HR 1717.