Congress Moves Quickly to Override President's Veto of H.R. 6331

July 16, 2008

H.R. 6331 — the bill that would delay competitive bidding by 18 months in addition to providing a "doc fix" for cuts to Medicare physician reimbursement — became law yesterday after quick action from Congress to override President Bush's veto.

By mid-afternoon, the House had voted to override the veto by a margin of 383 to 41. The Senate echoed the sentiment later that evening with a 70-26 majority vote.

According to AAHomecare, by approving the legislation, Congress agreed to delay competitive bidding in order to allow some critical process reforms, quality improvements, and other reforms to the bidding program and HME policy.

In a statement, AAHomecare said, "It is unfortunate that President Bush has chosen to veto H.R. 6331, The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008. This legislation would save taxpayers billions of dollars through reduced spending on home medical equipment and it would help seniors and people with disabilities to continue receive quality home medical equipment and services through Medicare."

In an interview with Respiratory Management's sister publication Mobility Management shortly after the Senate vote, Michael Reinemer, AAHomecare's vice president, Communications and Policy, said, "It’s a long time coming. But this delay is paid for. It is going to hurt; it’s not without some pain."

Reinemer said the organization would be working with round 1 winners to make sure everyone's concerns are addressed.

The 9.5-percent reduction in the fee schedule begins Jan. 1, 2009. In the meantime, pricing affected by competitive bidding will revert back to pricing as of June 30.

Reinemer predicts that providers will have a lot of questions that no one quite has answers to. "We won’t have really concrete answers until we start checking with folks, with CMS," he says.

This afternoon the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a statement regarding the delay of competitive bidding. CMS advised Medicare beneficiaries to use any Medicare-approved supplier for DME in the 10 competitive bid areas. The statement als noted that the original DME payment rates in effect prior to July 1 are reinstated retroactively. CMS plans to notify all Medicare households in the 10 competitive bidding areas directly in a letter within two weeks. 

Information on payment rates and claims processing will be communicated to DME suppliers in the coming days. Check this site for more information: www.cms.hhs.gov/DMEPOSCompetitiveBid/.