Draft bid bill draws 49 original co-sponsors
By HME News Staff
Updated Tue October 31, 2017
WASHINGTON - A draft bill that would provide relief from competitive bidding in non-bid areas will have 49 original co-sponsors when it is introduced, according to AAHomecare and VGM Group.
“Having a large number of original co-sponsors shows other members of Congress the strength and importance of the bill,” VGM stated in a bulletin to members on Tuesday.
Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and David Loebsack, D-Iowa, plan to introduce in the first week of November, stakeholders say.
VGM reports that Iowa, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota, which were heavily impacted by the national roll out of competitive bidding in 2016, saw all of their representatives sign on as original co-sponsors of the bill.
The bill would extend a retroactive delay of a second round of reimbursement cuts from Jan. 1, 2017, to Jan. 1, 2019, as well as address a “double-dip” reimbursement cut to oxygen therapy.
On a separate but related front, McMorris Rodgers, along with more than 100 other representatives, sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget in late September, asking the agency to clear an interim final rule that would provide relief from the bid program.
Comments