05/11/2023

OAMES On Capitol Hill this Week to Advocate for HME Priorities

Members Urged to Make Contact Today to Support S. 1294

The American Association for Homecare hosted a Leadership Legislative Fly-In yesterday advocating for the HME industry’s top national issues.  OAMES members Josh Marx (Medical Service Company) and Hanna Richardson (Cardinal Health), along with OAMES executive director Kam Yuricich, attended the Capitol Hill appointments meeting with Ohio’s US Senators and House Representatives. 

Attendees discussed current industry priorities:

• Senate Bill 1294 introduced last week by Sen John Thune (R-SD and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) – more details in article below;
• House Relief legislation forthcoming;
• Future of the Medicare competitive bidding program.

You’ll find a full list of issue briefs and resources HME providers shared with legislators here.  Two of the more notable documents discussed raising concerns with the Congressional staff and underscoring the need for action included the Supplier Tracking table and the Medicare spending chart:

• The DME supplier network is fragile – Ohio has 37% fewer Medicare DME supplier locations from July 2013 to January 2023, nationwide it's almost a 31% decrease;
• DME is NOT the spending problem – This healthcare sector is virtually flat-lined despite an aging population. It’s imperative to achieve a more sustainable reimbursement for HME products and services and address market realities to maintain access to this cost-effective benefit.

Support the Senate meetings with YOUR action today!  We urge OAMES members to reach out to the legislative staff at Ohio's US Senators', Senator Sherrod Brown and Senator JD Vance, to ask for their support of S.1294 reinforcing the yesterday's meetings.  We met with Sen. Brown’s Legislative Correspondent Francis Goins and Sen. Vance’s Health Counsel Patrick Brennan.  Your email today as a follow-up to the AAHomecare/OAMES meetings will go a long way to strengthening our ask.  Simply introduce yourself, provide brief information about your company (locations, size, specialties, etc.) and ask that the Senator sign-on to S.1294. If you have any questions or need assistance with your outreach, please email Kam Yuricich at OAMES or Gordon Barnes at AAHomecare.