House Small Business Committee Hearing on DME - You Tube Link

The House Small Business Committee hearings, which I attended on February 11th in DC are posted onto You Tube.  There is some great testimony from some well respected DME leaders and some fairly poignant questions asked of the CMS offical who was charged with attending the hearing. 

It's truly must-see TV for industry folks and there are some very interesting tid-bits in there.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE HEARING SITE ON YOU TUBE

It was a great hearing to be in attendance for and a packed house of industry leaders, small business advocates, and congressional aides. 

As I have noted in other posts, the hearing was in the Rayburn building, where at the same time there were hearings of the Wall Street CEO's who received TARP funds, as well as a hearing for the Peanut Corporation of America (a plead-the-fifth-fest from what I saw) who released contaminated products onto the market.  The contrast between the small businesses in the DME hearing, who are essentially pleading with policy makers to cease their tinkering with foolhardy rate setting experiments, and the Wall Street CEO's who pleaded for and then accepted billions - with a B - of dollars in taxpayer money, and the PCA folks who knowingly released contaminated products, resulting in the deaths of children...the contrast is alarming to say the least. 

The DME folks are working hard to serve Medicare beneficiaries and create net savings in the healthcare programs through the efficient delivery of care in the home - and they are not there asking for more, asking for a handout, just simple recognition of the work we do and an end to the cuts and ever shrinking reimbursement rates we are facing.  Hopefully the time is coming when we as owners and managers can shift our focus away from Washington for a while and back to improving our businesses and serving the public who require our services...hopefully.