As political analysts and pundits continue to discuss the broader implications of last week’s mid-term elections, the American Association for Homecare said it was moving to fully engage the new Congress regarding problems with the competitive bidding programs and audit reform, in order to continue driving bi-partisan support for those initiatives.
Of course the big news was that the Republican party gained control of the Senate while retaining its majority in the House of Representatives. The association outlined some key facts and trends it expects to see in the wake of those results.
To begin with, the HME industry lost some friends. Thirty-six members of 113th Congress who sponsored legislation favored by the HME community will not be returning when the House of Representatives convenes in January. Of that number:
- Twelve lost their bid for re-election to the House; 10 in Tuesday’s election, and two in earlier primaries.
- Fifteen retired or resigned.
- Three lost in Senate bids; two in primaries and one in Tuesday’s election.
- Bill Young (Fla.) died in October 2013 and Tim Griffin (Ark.) won a Lt. Governor post.
- Three co-sponsors of industry-backed legislation will be returning to the 114th Congress on the Senate side: Cory Gardner (Colo.), James Lankford (Okla.) amd Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.). Bill Cassidy (La.) will join them if he prevails in a December run-off election.
One of the first issues the new GOP-led Congress will be Medicare’s physician-payment formula, known as the sustainable growth rate. Money is earmarked through March 31. The question is whether or not lawmakers will take action to avert severe reimbursement cuts, or undertake another stop-gap measure.
AAHomecare explained that while there is broad support among lawmakers and doctors to scrap the SGR, paying for it is the biggest barrier. A new Congressional Budget Office estimate is likely to emerge in 2015, which could determine whether the SGR is scrapped or another short-term doc fix occurs.
Another issue sure to rise early on in the new congress will be Obamacare. That said, Republicans’ frustration over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act might give the industry an opportunity. While Sen Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) stated that the results gave Republicans a chance to “strike away” PPACA, those efforts would likely be “symbolic,” according to AAHomecare, which reminded the industry that any successful efforts (Congressional Republicans has so far launched more than 50 unsuccessful attempts to repeal the Act) would be vetoed by Pres. Obama.
Moreover, in 2016 general election, the GOP will be defending 24 seats in 2016, many of which are in blue or swing states. Given that situation, the association noted that many political analysts predict the Republican Senate will likely avoid a major overhaul of Medicare, because there are many vulnerable members who will face reelection in two years.
What is more likely, according to AAHomecare, is that if Republicans seek any bi-partisan effort to reform any part of PPACA, it will be to repeal the medical device tax, which would be a chance for the industry to reform at least one problematic element of the Act.