H.R. 1041’s Rep. Thompson rallies Washington Conference attendees to continue repeal bill’s momentum.
By David Kopf
Feb 21, 2012
While the industry hit Congress with the Market Pricing Program at the top of its agenda, Representative Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) called on providers attending the American Association for Homecare’s Washington Conference to also continue their support of H.R. 1041, the Fairness in Medicare Bidding Act, which calls for the repeal of the national competitive bidding program.
Currently the bill has 166 co-sponsors, with two of the recent additions to its supporters being Reps. Charles Bass (R-N.H.) and Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.) according to Thompson, who introduced the bill into the House of Representatives with Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.). The unofficial goal for the bill is to garner 218 co-sponsors.
Thompson, a jokingly self-described “recovering nursing home administrator,” and the Pennsylvania Association of Medical Suppliers Legislator of the Year explained that the providers that engaged in the Washington Conference’s lobbying efforts were critical to stopping competitive bidding, because most lawmakers are not well-versed in the program’s negative impact.
“Despite what some people believe, there are not a lot of experts regarding healthcare in Washington,” Thomspon joked. “When I look at some of the policies that are put forward on Capitol Hill. … So, you are doing a great favor and a great service to the elected representatives that you will visit.”
Thompson said that, from a policy perspective, he had four principles that guided his decision-making when it came to healthcare:
It should decrease cost.
It should increase access.
It should further America’s reputation for healthcare quality and innovation.
The consumer should be in control and have choice.
“I have to tell you, competitive bidding violates all four of my principles,” Thompson said to much applause from Washington Conference Attendees. “You all know that. You see it.
While calling for the repeal of competitive bidding is a cause with which the industry agrees and has backed, much of the industry’s more recent lobbying efforts have been focused on supporting the Market Pricing Program, which is aims to replace competitive bidding with a program that the industry can survive and that would gain support of lawmakers in both the House and the Senate, a body with which the industry has struggled to find lobbying traction. Thompson explained that providers can back a lobbying agenda that supports both the MPP and FIMBA:
“The MPP is a great compromise, but that’s what it is a compromise,” he said. “It acknowledges the fiscal environment that we’re in today, and the low-bidding that impacts price and that [creates] contracts that can’t be fulfilled.
“Right now we have great momentum with H.R. 1041, which clearly defines the problem,” he continued. “We have bi-partisan support, with co-sponsorship from some of the leaders of both sides [of the House]. We really need to keep building on H.R. 1041. … Then we’ll need to vote for a hearing, and I think we’ll get that venue; more co-sponsors will help the mandate for that.
“From there, at some point strategically, it would make sense that perhaps we have our replacement bill,” Thompson said, explaining that H.R. 1041’s momentum and co-sponsorhip could be leveraged to support the MPP. “But it’s something you only want to do once. Timeliness is incredibly important, and we need to work together to decide when that right time is. It would be a separate bill that would be largely H.R. 1041, but with the MPP inserted into it. … But that has to be done at the right time.”
Posts
