HME champions win re-election

WASHINGTON - A number of champions for the HME industry, including Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., have won their re-election bids in Congress.

McMorris-Rodgers, who bested her Democratic contender Lisa Brown, has led a number of efforts to provide relief from Medicare's competitive bidding program, including introducing H.R. 4229, which has 157 co-sponsors. She has also spearheaded a number of congressional sign-on letters to CMS requesting relief.

A number of champions for complex rehab have also won re-election. Reps. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., and John Larson, D-Conn., who introduced H.R. 3730, a bill to stop CMS from applying bid-related cuts to accessories for complex manual wheelchairs, came out on top. As did Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., who introduced H.R. 750, a bill to create a separate benefit for complex rehab.

However, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., who has also supported the industry's fight against the bid program, lost to her Republican contender Kevin Cramer. In 2015, Heitkamp joined Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., in introducing a bill to soften the blow of the nationwide rollout of competitive bidding pricing on Jan. 1, 2016. Thune was not up for re-election.

The industry also has at least one new champion in the making: Dan Meuser, the former president of Pride Mobility Products, who won a bid to represent Pennsylvania's 9th congressional district. Dan Meuser left Pride in 2008 to pursue a career in public service. His brother, Scott Meuser, is the chairman/CEO of the company.