Forty-six Senators have committed to sign their names to a Congressional sign-on letter from Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) that is urging HHS and CMS leadership to provide bidding relief for rural and non-bid area providers.
The American Association for Homecare reports that it has heard from its sources on Capitol Hill that the lawmakers in the upper chamber will support the letter, which is addressed to HHS and CMS leadership. Once the letter is finalized AAHoemcare says it will release a copy of the signed version. For now, the full text of the letter is available at http://bit.ly/2tPqGdX.
The letter is a follow-up to a similar letter in the house co-authored by Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa), Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) and Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) the letter (available as a PDF). That letter received signatures from 154 lawmakers.
AAHomecare lauded Sens. Thun and Heitkamp for spearheading the Senate letter, and also noted that credit was due to the VGM Group, the Midwest Association for Medical Equipment Services, and North Dakota and South Dakota providers for taking leadership roles in this effort, as well the state and regional HME associations and industry advocates who asked their Senators to add their signatures.