Congressional Sign-on Letters Attract Solid Support

The tally of lawmakers calling for broader bid reforms includes 138 Representatives and 32 Senators.

• By David Kopf
• Oct 11, 2018

After an industry-wide push, HME providers and advocates convinced 138 Representatives and 32 Senators to sign Congressional letters asking the leadership of CMS, HHS, and OMB to expand the relief for HME stakeholders beyond what CMS suggested in its proposed ESRD/DMEPOS rule.

A list of the lawmakers that signed the House letter can be found at bit.ly/2yaWkn2. A list of the Senators that signed the upper chamber’s companion letter can be found at bit.ly/2yETrdN.

The American Association for Homecare and VGM Government Relations helped organize and facilitate the effort to collect lawmakers’ signatures. That effort ensured that both chambers’ letters garnered bi-partisan support from Congress members across the country.

“Both bipartisan letters carry significant weight in the eyes of regulators and will be helpful during the rule-making process,” read a statement from VGM Government Relations. “Thank you to each and every supplier who contacted their legislators and visited the VGM Action Center.”

Notably, 10 of the Senate Finance Committee’s 27 members signed the letter, as well.

“This is a particularly impressive showing for a letter that was open for just five working days (Friday, Sept. 28 through Thursday, Oct. 4) and in a period with very high-profile issues competing for the Senate's attention,” read a statement from the American Association for Homecare. “We appreciate the quick action from the legion of suppliers and other HME stakeholders who reached out to Senate offices to generate strong support for this fast-moving and potentially high-impact letter.”

Launched by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), the House sign on letter asked the leadership of CMS, HHS, and OMB to expand the relief for HME stakeholders provided in CMS’s proposed ESRD/DMEPOS rule (more about those reforms can be read at bit.ly/2O864rj). Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) followed by introducing a sign-on letter into the Senate that serves as a companion to the House sign-on letter asking for similar reforms. (Read more at bit.ly/2zD001S.)