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06/20/2014

Binding Bid Legislation Introduced in House

Call to Action to Gain Co-Sponsors

The American Association for Homecare just broke the news late yesterday that the Medicare DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Improvement Act of 2014, HR 4920, has been introduced in Congress by lead sponsor Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH) and five original co-sponsors: Rep. Diane Black (R-TN), Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH), Rep. David Joyce (R-OH), Rep. John Larson (D-CT) and Rep. Peter Visclosky (D-IN).

This legislation will make all bids binding and require proof of licensure for the next rounds of bidding. It addresses a major flaw in the program and deters speculative bidding without generating a cost. There are three main provisions in the bill:

While HR 1717 remains a viable bill offering a full-solution approach to the broken bidding program, the political environment today in Washington make its passage very difficult. HR 4920 is a more targeted “fix” aimed at the most harmful components of the fatally flawed bid process that concerns legislators and we anticipate could move quickly with little opposition. We also have gained much more interest and support from Senators so feel more optimistic about passage in the bigger picture.

The goal is to pass HR 4920 as a stand-alone bill or as part of another moving bill prior to the next round of bidding, however, the key is gaining as many co-sponsors as quickly as possible! The more support, the better chance of passing.

Please contact your legislator today and ask them to sign on to this bill and join their three Ohio colleagues already on board. Use the AAHomecare Action Center link belowto send a pre-formatted email that you can customize with your message. http://action.aahomecare.org/15592/stop-speculators-from-hurting-medicare-patients/

After you contact your legislator(s), please share any feedback, positive or negative, with Kam Yuricich, OAMES executive director at kam@oames.org

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