08/29/2012

Legislative Alert! Urge Your Representative to Cosponsor Price Bill to Enact Market Pricing Program

On August 24, the American Association for Homecare reported that Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) agreed to introduce a bill in the US House of Representatives to replace the Medicare competitive bidding program with the market pricing program (MPP).  Rep. Price is a member of the powerful House Budget and House Ways & Means Committees.

This week, AAHomecare followed up with an Alert urging all providers nationwide to contact their representative to cosponsor the Price bill to enact MPP. Dr. Price is working to finalize the legislative language with plans to introduce the bill when Congress returns from the August recess on Sept. 10.  We urge OAMES members to use the remaining weeks of the Congressional recess to contact your representative and urge him/her to agree to sign on as a co-sponsor of the legislation. Representatives who agree to cosponsor should contact Congressman Price's staff as soon as possible.

Action needed:

• Email or call your representative and urge them to be original co-sponsor to MPP.
• If they are willing to sign on, have them contact Congressman Price's office to confirm his/her support for the MPP legislation. Capitol Hill staffers will know how to reach each other, and the preferred method, whether phone or email.
• You can describe the legislation as a bipartisan bill to bring market-based pricing to home medical equipment and services in Medicare.  Traditionally, both Republicans and Democrats have supported efforts to fix the bidding program so it aligns with the original intent of Congress, preserves access to home-based care, and does not wipe out small businesses.  It is important to continue the tradition of having support from both parties on this bill.

There are resources available at the American Association for Homecare website including an issue brief and FAQ.  Click here to access information:

http://www.aahomecare.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=3

If you have any questions about communicating about this issue with your Representative, please contact Kam Yuricich at kam@oames.org or 614-876-2424.