(Wrightsville Beach and Raleigh, N.C.) Hundreds of small business owners from across the state rallied together June 23-25 at the annual Summer Meeting of NCAMES, North Carolina’s leader in home medical equipment advocacy and education. Attendees from as far away as Winston-Salem, Rocky Mount, Charlotte, and Asheville travelled to the three-day conference in Wrightsville Beach to learn how to survive Federal Medicare bidding rules devastating the home medical equipment industry.

“The one-size-fits-all approach the Federal government is taking to try and centrally manage the HME industry is having the opposite effect of removing patient access to dependable, local home health care,” NCAMES Executive Director Beth Bowen said.

According to Bowen, since new Federal Medicare bidding rules were rolled-out in October 2009 only 60 of 135 HME providers in the state won bids during Round 1 of the process. Because of low-ball bidding by unproven, out-of-state competitors utilizing the new rules to flood the North Carolina marketplace, those local providers who did win bids often had to under-price their services way beneath industry standards just to continue to service their long-time patients.

“Suicide bidding will create severe reductions in fee schedules and reimbursement rates for providers,” said conference attendee Ed Dressen, owner of Dressen Medical Supply of Holly Springs. Dressen explained that the reductions will not allow his company to obtain quality products from vendors, resulting in a loss of continuity of service and care for his customers.

“These bids will drastically reduce profitability for my company, resulting in the loss of jobs for my employees as I may be forced to close the doors,” he added.

In addition to its main focus on retooling and retraining to deal with the new Federal Medicare bidding rules, the NCAMES Summer Meeting included workshops and exhibits geared toward general business topics such as managing billings and receivables, and information on new technologies and service trends.

“Our conferences used to be more geared toward customer service and utilizing new technologies to help seniors and patients in need, but now the focus has to be on teaching them how to keep the Federal government from shutting down their businesses even though they’ve done nothing wrong,” Bowen said.

Industry facts shared at the Summer Meeting included projected job losses of 80,000 once the Medicare bidding rules are fully implemented nationwide and business closures of up to 40 percent. Overall job losses in North Carolina are estimated at over 1,200 after Rounds 1 and 2 of the bidding process are completed.

“This Medicare bidding program will mean there will be fewer HME providers to serve an increasing number of patients,” said Bill Griffin, president and CEO of Griffin Home Healthcare in Charlotte, who talked with peers at the conference about the negative impact of the new rules on patient services and timely access to quality care.

“Ultimately, the negative impact of this restrictive program will change the complexion of the entire industry forever,” he said.

Attendees received updates on H.R. 3790, proposed legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to correct flaws in the bidding rules. Currently supported by 252 members, the bill has 9 out of 13 Representatives from the North Carolina delegation behind it including Cong. Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.) of the 7th District covering Lumberton, Fayetteville and Wilmington.

Senator Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), who serves on the influential U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, has been approached about sponsoring companion legislation. She has not yet committed to pursuing such a bill in the Senate to support HME businesses and their patients across North Carolina and the rest of the U.S.

Approximately eight million Americans require some type of medical care in the home. As of 2008 there are over 1.6 million North Carolinians over the age of 60, a number that is expected to reach nearly 3 million by 2029.

For more information on the home medical equipment services industry in North Carolina, the issue of suicide bidding, and H.R. 3790, visit the NCAMES website at www.ncames.org.

ABOUT NCAMES
With close to 300 member companies and growing, the North Carolina Association for Medical Equipment Services (NCAMES) is the statewide leader in preserving access to safe, affordable, and therapeutic home medical equipment. We provide advocacy and education to home medical equipment (HME) providers statewide dedicated to helping North Carolina’s growing senior population and patients of all ages gain more mobility and experience a high quality of life in the comfort and privacy of their own homes. NCAMES was instrumental in passing the nation’s first HME licensure law which has been working to ensure quality home health care since 1995, and fully supports pending legislation H.R. 3790 to continue HME access for patients in need. For more information, visit www.ncames.org or call (919)-387-1221.