Lawmakers on Capitol Hill continue to debate and discuss Medicare issues. This week, the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee held a hearing to discuss the competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment. (Kaiser Network)
Durable equipment includes prosthetics, orthotics, and other tools, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services is tasked with selecting suppliers based on bids. The program will expand to 70 additional Metropolitan Statistical Areas in 2009. An excerpt:
Subcommittee Chair Pete Stark (D-Calif.) said that the hearing will address concerns from durable medical equipment suppliers and advocates for Medicare beneficiaries that the program is “not working as well as it is supposed to” (CQ HealthBeat, 5/5).
According to Stark, the hearing will allow lawmakers to determine whether the program requires revisions before the scheduled expansion in 2009 (Edney, CongressDaily, 5/6). Stark said, “I’d like to see the whole thing scrapped.” He added that Congress likely will take action to revise the program, with only the “question of whether we’ll do it in 2008 or 2009.” The House Small Business Committee plans to hold a hearing on the program later this month (Wilde Mathews, Wall Street Journal, 5/6).
In other Medicare news, lobbyists continue their efforts to convince Congress to delay a 10.6 percent reimbursement fee cut for Medicare physicians, although Senate action on the issue might be pushed back. (Kaiser Network)
Other matters, such as an Iraq war spending bill and bill that would delay new Medicare regulations, will push the physician fee cut issue down the priority list, according to an AARP spokesperson.
