State associations lobby hard for H.R. 4491
By HME News Staff
Updated Sun October 3, 2004
October 4, 2004
WASHINGTONÂ -Â A friendly competition between state HME associations has yielded good results in drumming up support among elected officials for a bill that would repeal reimbursement cuts mandated by the Medicare Modernization Act. There's still, however, plenty of work to be done.
As of Oct. 1, 79 members of the House of Representatives had signed on as co-sponsors of H.R. 4491. Sponsored by Rep. David Hobson, R, Ohio, the bill would repeal reimbursement cuts based on Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). That provision calls for reimbursement reductions of 10%-20% for home oxygen, 20% for hospital beds and 23% for nebulizers beginning in 2005.
Of the 79 congressmen who signed on as co-sponsors, eight were from New York, seven from New England, seven from Ohio, five from Texas and five from Tennessee.
 “There is some competition among the states,” said Gloria Murray, president of the New York Medical Equipment Providers Association. “We all want to be number one for getting the most signatures. All the states are working hard to get it done.”
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