The editorial board of the Las Vegas Review-Journal called on Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to ensure he achieves a legislative reform to national bid expansion before his legislative career comes to an end.
“With just weeks remaining before Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid retires, he has a chance to help fix a problem that’s victimized thousands of rural seniors — including many in Nevada,” the editorial in the Review-Journal’s Sunday edition read.
The article then laid out the history of the bid expansion issue, and detailed how it was impacting providers and patients, particularly those in rural areas. Moreover it also explained how bidding was becoming a greater problem by negatively impacting program such as TRICARE.
The editorial noted that the House and Senate had passed multiple reforms that had wound up being non-starters for various unforeseen reasons. Bearing that in mind, the Review-Journal’s board reminded Sen. Reid that passing the legislation was entirely feasible, since both chambers had passed reforms of their own.
“There’s a pathway and an appetite in both chambers to settle this issue,” the editorial read. “Sen. Reid has the opportunity to help broker a deal that resolves the minor issues between the House and Senate and sends the president a final bill. Let’s hope he makes it a priority.”
Additional Coverage
In addition to the Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial, the industry picked up some additional high-profile coverage of the competitive bidding issue. AAHomecare’s Ryan appeared on a Washington, D.C. ABC affiliate WJLA TV, where he provided an overview of the problems with competitive bidding; discussed the service changes and business closures resulting from rural cuts; and called for Congress to roll back the July 1 round of cuts.
That interview followed Ryan’s interview with C-SPAN’s Washington Journal show, in which Ryan made the case for reforming competitive bidding. Ryan also appeared on SIRIUS/XM radio’s The Morning Briefing with Tim Farley, which aired on the network’s Politics of the United States (POTUS) channel (no. 124).
Also, a North Carolina provider and the People for Quality Care (P4QC ) helped generate local coverage of the bidding issue. North Carolina’s Penrod Medical used stories from a P4QC press release to help interest the Salisbury Post in covering the issue.