Camaraderie can crush it
By Letter to the Editor
Updated Mon February 25, 2013
My class at the Brooklyn College of Pharmacy in 1947 was almost 100% World War II veterans. I mention this because we had learned the importance and value of working together. Nothing can compare with the results we obtained during our tours of duty, if we did not have that camaraderie and support. Our entire class signed on as student members of the National Association of Retail Druggists (NARD). I became a regular member in 1950 when I passed my board exams. Although I retired from pharmacy in 1965, I am still a dues paying member today.
It shouldn't be any different with HME providers. You are in the trenches fighting to remove the onerous competitive bidding program. H.R. 6490 was introduced last year to replace the program with a market-pricing program (MPP), but we did not have sufficient time to get it out of committee. Now we must try again and succeed. I see how much effort and money the associations spent in support of H.R. 6490. If close to 100% of the providers joined the associations, we can succeed. Together we will win this battle, just as we won World War II.
—Shelly Prial
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