Cape Medical Supply Urges Legislative Support for H.R. 3790 and Thanks Local Congressmen Who Have Co-Sponsored Legislation
Published on Monday, October 26, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sandwich, MA – October 26, 2009
Cape Medical Supply Urges Legislative Support for H.R. 3790 and Thanks Local Congressman Who Have Co-Sponsored Legislation
Cape Medical Supply is urging Congress to pass legislation, H.R. 3790, which would eliminate the controversial, deeply flawed “competitive” bidding program for durable medical equipment and services in Medicare. The bill, which has already been co-sponsored by Congressman Delahunt and Congressman Frank, will help control future Medicare spending and preserve access to quality care for our nation’s seniors.
“Healthcare reform is an exciting opportunity for our nation to fix much of what is wrong with our healthcare system and we are hopeful that more legislators will see the wisdom in eliminating this dangerous legislation,” commented Cape Medical Supply CEO Gary Sheehan. “We applaud Congressman Delahunt and Congressman Frank for their support for this legislation and are delighted that they have taken the time to better understand the industry and the critical role it plays in controlling our nation’s healthcare costs by keeping patients at home.”
Durable, or home medical equipment, such as oxygen, wheelchairs, hospital beds, and bathroom safety equipment, enable seniors and people with disabilities to receive quality care at home. Home based care represents a cost-effective alternative to institutional care, and seniors prefer to receive care at home rather than in an institutional setting.
H.R. 3790 will reduce payments to home medical equipment providers in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2015. At the same time the bill will allow thousands of home medical equipment providers to keep their doors open and serve millions of Americans who require home based services, who will continue to be able to select the providers of their choice and demand those providers provide the highest levels of service and care possible.
K. Eric Larson, Executive Director of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association, said, “A ‘competitive’ bidding program that relies solely on the price of the winning bid simply cannot guarantee quality of, and access to the care our members need. Home medical equipment providers offer quality items and service to our beneficiaries living with paralysis and complex conditions. This bidding program needs to be repealed before the program creates human tragedies across the country.”
The initial roll-out of the competitive bidding program in 2008 was so fraught with issues that Congress delayed it after less than one month. Patients and providers, who are almost exclusively small businesses, experienced serious and complicated issues in the short time the program was in effect, such as;
• Disruption to patient services – Patients were forced to go to multiple, unfamiliar providers for different items and services.
• Greater net-costs to Medicare due to longer hospitalizations – Confusion about the restricted list of contracted home medical equipment providers delayed hospital discharges and triggered unnecessary ER visits.
• Non-local providers – Providers with no history of servicing a geographic area and no operations in a bidding area were awarded Medicare contracts.
• Inexperienced/unlicensed providers – Companies were awarded Medicare contracts to provide equipment and services for which they were not licensed in their states and for which they had no previous experience providing.
Because of these issues and many more the program was delayed, in the hopes that the Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services would substantially improve and reform the program. When the program was delayed providers across the country accepted a 9.5% reimbursement cut.
“Medicare is trying to reduce pricing, which is an enviable goal, however it is important to note that Medicare itself has always set the pricing for these services and products, and do we really want to auction off the privilege of servicing our nation’s seniors at home to the lowest bidders? Is putting thousands of small businesses across the country out of business the right way to address either the healthcare financing crisis or the overall economic and jobs crisis?” continued Mr. Sheehan, Cape Medical Supply CEO.
Home medical equipment and care is already the most cost effective, slowest growing sub-sector of the Medicare program, increasing only .75% per-year according to the most recent National Health Expenditures data. That compares to more than 6% annual growth for overall Medicare spending. Home medical equipment represents only 1.6% of the Medicare budget.
For more information, please visit or contact:
The American Association for Homecare: http://www.aahomecare.org/
To arrange for an interview or for more information on this release you can contact Cape Medical Supply, Inc. Chief Executive Officer Gary Sheehan directly at gsheehan@capemedical.net.
About Cape Medical Supply, Inc: Cape Medical Supply is the premiere provider of respiratory care and durable medical equipment in Southeastern MA. At their headquarters Cape Medical Supply has over 10,000 square feet of warehouse space stocked with home medical equipment and respiratory care goods. The specific products are too numerous to mention, but most fall into the following categories; Home Oxygen Products, Sleep Apnea Products (CPAP/Bi-PAP), Bathroom Safety Equipment, Hospital Beds, Orthopedic Goods (Splints and Braces), Mobility Aids, Seat-Lift Chairs, Aids-to-Daily-Living, Specialty Pillows, and much more.
These products treat conditions from COPD, to Sleep Apnea, to mobility impairment – and many more, and do so at greatly reduced expense to both the patients and healthcare system by providing a safe home environment where the user can rest safely and comfortably. More than the products, Cape Medical Supply takes great pride in the Team Members who work with their patients, customers and referral sources; it is these people, their skill, compassion, dedication and experience that have made Cape Medical Supply the widely recognized leader in the communities they serve. Family owned and operated since 1977, ownership and employees are very active in community affairs and the company takes great pride in their civic involvement and charitable giving.
For more information please visit their website at www.capemedical.com or their online media kit at www.capemedical.com/media-kit
Recent Awards and Honors:
2007, 2008, 2009 Inc. 5,000 Honoree, Fastest Growing Private Companies in the United States
2008 Planned Giving Council of Cape Cod, Outstanding Business
2009 HME Excellence Awards Runner-Up, Best Home Medical Equipment Company in the United States
2009 SCORE/Sandwich Chamber of Commerce, Build a Better Mousetrap Award Winner
2009 NEMED Member of the Year
