H.R. 6331 still has some life left in it. While a 58-to-40 Senate cloture vote Failed to get enough votes in the Senate to end debate and move to a vote before the July 4 recess, the senate will restart debate on July 8, after its return.

H.R. 6331 proposes to delay implementation of national competitive bidding by up to 24 months, with the HME industry paying for the delay in the form of 9.5 percent price cuts to DME and services covered by competitive bidding, except for oxygen and power wheelchairs.

While H.R. 6331 passed the House with a veto-proof 355 yea votes to 59 nay votes, the bill to delay national competitive bidding failed to get enough votes in the Senate to end debate and move to a vote before tomorrow’s Independence Day break.

This left round one of NCB to go into effect on its July 1 implementation date.