Have one voice, even with your competitors

It has been my pleasure and duty in the recent days and months to attend two meetings with Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., in which we discussed Medicare's flawed competitive bidding program and the disastrous effects it is having on patients not only in our Florida District 15 but also across the country. At each of these meetings, there were more than a dozen HME providers stating the facts and letting their voice and the voices of their patients be heard.

Sego's Home Medical Equipment, being a family owned and operated business since 1946 in Brevard County, has always had a “friendly competitor” relationship with most of the HME providers operating in this county, so maybe it was a bit easier for us all to get together and have “one” voice to work for a united goal of having this flawed competitive bid program stopped.

We all feel, if we hold contracts or not, that Medicare beneficiaries were essentially duped by CMS. They were promised quality and specific equipment in a timely manner, quality service, and significant out-of-pocket savings. They are receiving NONE of these! Shame on CMS for lying to Medicare beneficiaries and our patients.

Rep. Posey has seen firsthand the effects of this flawed program and he is not happy about it. Rep. Posey was one of the first to sign on to H.R. 1717, a bill to replace competitive bidding with a market-pricing program (MPP). We HME providers are proud of this fact.

It is time for other providers across the country—“friendly competitors” or not—to join together, set up meetings with their congressional representative in their district and let their united voice and the voices of their patients be heard.

— Gene Sego, Sego's Home Medical Equipment, proud member of FAHCS and AAHomecare