Congress Must Support HR 4229

We’ve discussed in other posts that a faulty and failing government policy is preventing Medicare beneficiaries from accessing medically necessary home medical equipment, supplies, and services. Critical funding for items like home oxygen therapy, wheelchairs, nebulizers, and more, has been slashed. The result? Many companies now find themselves unable to continue offering these products and services to those who need it.

Recently, we heard of yet another company closing—this time leaving hundreds of Medicare beneficiaries in

Sioux Falls, S.D., scrambling to find a home medical equipment company to meet their medical needs.

Even Medicare is Concerned

This closure comes on the heels of Medicare’s recently released Interim Final Rule (IFR). In it, Medicare acknowledges that inadequate funding has already caused companies “to drop out of Medicare and even close down” and that others on the verge of closing “may be the only option for beneficiaries in these areas”.

Medicare is already concerned about “further jeopardiz[ing] the infrastructure of suppliers that beneficiaries rely on for access to necessary items” and the need to “prevent the imminent closure of some supplier locations” to safeguard beneficiary access for the most remote areas of the country.

However, it’s become clear that Medicare is not going to step in to save all of the impacted areas where people reside outside of the Competitive Bidding program—we need Congress to require it through legislation.

Patients Struggle to Find Products, Services

Patient access issues will continue to rise as the companies they rely on collapse under the bureaucratic weight of this poor policy. Until Congress acts, we can expect more of the same:

• Companies will close
• Beneficiaries won’t be able to find local companies to meet their needs
• Deliveries and services will be less frequent
• Quality of life will decline
• And the ability to remain safely and independently at home will get further out of reach

You Can Help

Send a letter to Congress asking for his or her co-sponsorship of HR 4229—the Protecting HOME

Access Act. This will help make sure beneficiaries can will continue to have access to companies who can meet their home medical equipment needs. Together, we can prevent the suffering of countless individuals.