The American Association for Homecare has posted a letter designed to help providers inform their patients, caregivers and families about how competitive bidding could impact their care. The letter can be downloaded from the AAHomecare site (click here).
“The goal is to have the end-users of homecare contact their members of Congress to get them to cosponsor H.R. 3790 [which would repeal competivie bidding],” a statement from AAHomecare reads. “This new letter from providers to Medicare beneficiaries details how the bidding program could reduce access to quality homecare supplies and services.”
The letter makes clear that CMS’s competitive bidding program:
- Reduces the number of quality homecare providers you can choose from to obtain medically necessary home medical equipment;
- Selects only a small number of homecare providers on the basis of price rather than quality of care; and
- Forces many Medicare beneficiaries to obtain equipment, supplies, and services from unfamiliar providers who may have no prior experience providing the items and services you depend on.
The association called on providers to encourage their patients to contact their local and national consumer advocacy groups for general consumer education and advocacy support, as well as their congressional representatives to encourage them to co-sponsor H.R. 3790. Currently, the bill has 64 co-sponsors.
