American Association for Homecare chairman Robert Steedley will speak before a House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health hearing titled, “Improving Competition in Medicare: Removing Moratoria and Expanding Access.”

The subcommittee’s Chairman Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) formally invited Steedley, who is also the president of Barnes Healthcare Services, to appear before the May 19 hearing, which coincides with the AAHomecare Washington Legislative Conference, giving the AAHomecare Board of Directors the opportunity to attend the hearing in person.

Coincidentally, May 19 marks the last day of Steedley’s term as board chair, capping off an influential term that included the recent passage of legislation that required binding bids and state licensure for bidders, which addressed two key problems with the competitive bidding program.

Steedley’s testimony before the Subcommittee on Health will focus on the problems of CMS’s current competitive bidding program and recommend the Market Pricing Program (MPP), as a sound, budget neutral alternative. The MPP is a proposal supported by Ways and Means committee member and longtime HME champion Rep. Price (R-Ga), who has advanced past legislation in the 113th Congress that would have replaced competitive bidding with the MPP.

“I am pleased to share my experience with the Medicare competitive bidding program and make recommendations on how Congress can create a state-of-the art auction program that achieves market pricing, is sustainable over the long term, will not reduce quality and access to home medical equipment and can be used as a model for other sectors of healthcare,” Steedley said in a public statement.

For those industry members that will be in Washington, D.C. at the time, the hearing will take place at 10 a.m. on Tues., May 19, in Room 1100 of the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill.