The Western Pennsylvania Home Medical Equipment Providers Council and the Pennsylvania Association of Medical Suppliers will host an April 6 event during the congressional recess to help Pennsylvania providers fight round one of CMS’s national competitive bidding program.

Called the HME Survival Summit, the April 6 event is trying to collect all providers throughout western Pennsylvania to the Radisson Hotel Pittsburgh Green Tree in Pittsburg to meet with a congressional delegation in order to raise concerns about NCB’s impact on providers, patients and jobs.

According to a statement from the two associations, had it not been for the delay of round one implementation, “more than 80 percent of HME providers in the greater Pittsburgh area would have been banned from providing medical equipment and supplies to their Medicare patients for three years.

Representatives Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) and Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) are expected to attend and address those affected by NCB, and representatives from the offices Senators Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Robert Casey (D-Pa.) also will attend, according to a statement from AAHomecare. Patient advocacy groups will also attend, including the Three Rivers Center for Independent Living and United Cerebral Palsy-Pittsburgh.

For more details, download the event flyer at http://www.pamsonline.org/uploads/ce_10_doc_1.pdf.