AAHomecare: Focus Now on Grassroots Follow-Up for H.R. 5555 & S. 1294

• By Laurie Watanabe
• Sep 28, 2023

Following a successful Virtual Legislative Conference last week, the American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) has turned its focus to two bills related to relief for home medical equipment (HME) providers, as well as a bill to expand Medicare coverage to allow a wheelchair upgrade.

In a Sept. 27 bulletin, AAHomecare noted that more than 130 participants at the Legislative Conference met with more than 200 House and Senate offices, “including more than 60 legislators on committees of jurisdiction for healthcare finance issues,” meaning the House Energy & Commerce Committee, the House Ways & Means Committee, and the Senate Finance Committee.

“The virtual conference was well timed to reach legislators in advance of the development of omnibus legislative packages expected later in the year, while also avoiding this week’s contentious action on Capitol Hill to avoid a government shutdown,” the bulletin noted.

Stakeholders are now being asked to connect with House and Senate offices to express support for S. 1294 and H.R. 5555, which would bring much-needed reimbursement relief to HME providers. “A personal email to healthcare staffers for your Senators and Representative will reinforce last week’s ‘screen-to-screen’ advocacy and help continue to raise the profile of legislative asks,” AAHomecare said. “Growing co-sponsor support is critical to improving the chances for our measures to be included in end-of-year legislative packages. Without these measures, suppliers in non-bid areas will lose rate increases averaging 32 percent across highly utilized product categories, and suppliers in former CBAs will go another year without a long-overdue, market-based rate adjustment.”

Visit the Association’s Medicare Reimbursement Legislation Campaign Central site to contact your legislators. 

Last week’s Legislative Conference agenda also included H.R. 5371, the Choices for Increased Mobility Act of 2023, which would provide a mechanism for Medicare beneficiaries to upgrade to a titanium or carbon fiber frame for their ultralightweight manual wheelchairs.