Provider 'Bests' incumbent
By Tracy Orzel
Updated Mon December 22, 2014
When Representative-Elect Brian Best won the Iowa House District 12 seat, the HME industry gained a man on the inside. HME News spoke with Best, the owner of Bestmed Respiratory and Western Iowa Sleep in Carroll, Iowa, about his plans to inject a little common sense into government.
HME news: What made you want to run?
Brian Best: I just wanted to pay it forward—we've been pretty blessed with our businesses. I wanted to try to go down to the state house and put a little common sense into government.
HME: How will your experience as an HME provider help you in office?
Best: I think it definitely helped me to understand what happens when one part of the government becomes really overbearing and unreasonable. When we talk about, for instance, competitive bidding or the effects of the Affordable Care Act, it's hard to get something covered because of the amount of redundant paperwork that's required. Those kinds of things make me want to fight for the little guy—for businesses.
HME: Once you're in office, what kind of changes will you be looking to effect in regard to HME businesses?
Best: I don't know how much I can do at the state level, because a lot of the problems HME is having (with Medicare) are on the federal level, but just to be an advocate for things that make sense. DME makes sense because it costs less because it helps keeps patients out of the hospital. The government doesn't see the value of that. I want them to understand that there is value there.
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