<US Politics> O&P Urged to Oppose VGM Medicare Competitive Bidding Alternative

<US Politics> O&P Urged to Oppose VGM Medicare Competitive Bidding Alternative

AOPA

11/27/2002

Dear List Serve Members:

The parent company of OPGA, Van G. Miller & Associates (VGM), has
recently floated a legislative proposal to its members asking if they
would be amenable to accepting a three-year congressional freeze in the
Medicare DME payment update. Their claim is that this freeze, if
accepted by Congress, would be a substitute for a legislatively imposed
Medicare competitive bidding program.

AOPA adamantly opposes this initiative because we believe it has the
potential to lead to a freeze in the Medicare O&P fee schedule payment
update. We strongly urge all O&P facilities who were asked to voice
their opinion on the DME freeze to tell VGM that the O&P profession does
not endorse this policy option. AOPA estimates that such a freeze, if
extended to the Medicare O&P fee schedule, could cost practitioners more
than $50 million over ten years.

All O&P practitioners should be alarmed that this proposal is under
consideration because of the severe implications that it could have for
the O&P industry. The faxed questionnaire that many of you may have
received from VGM states that it has assurances from incoming Senate
Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and House Budget Committee
Chair Jim Nussle (R-IA) that they would not include both competitive
bidding and the payment freeze in a Medicare reform package.
Unfortunately, as is pointed out in the fax from VGM, Grassley and
Nussle cannot guarantee that other lawmakers-such as Sen. Graham (D-FL)
or Rep. Thomas (R-CA)-will not still press for a competitive bidding
program in addition to a payment freeze.

AOPA's primary worry is that lawmakers on Capitol Hill will fail to
distinguish between O&P and DME and will also freeze the Medicare O&P
update. If the Medicare freeze effort moves forward, AOPA predicts that
not only will O&P practitioners be forced into a Medicare competitive
bidding program for a fraction of orthotic devices but we also risk the
potential to have all O&P service payments frozen for the next 3 years.


Advocacy is a delicate balance between presenting the right ideas, at
the right time, to the right people. But floating a legislative
proposal that could lead to a freeze in Medicare O&P payments is simply
the wrong idea at the wrong time for the O&P community. By vetting this
proposal before the new 108th Congress has organized and before a new
Medicare package has even been drafted, our colleagues seem willing to
dismiss all the hard work done on this issue without allowing AOPA and
others to build on the progress made last year.

AOPA does not see this option as a viable alternative because of the
severe repercussions it will have on O&P facilities. We, therefore,
strongly recommend that OPGA members reject this proposal. We also hope
that you evaluate whether VGM, as a primary representative of the DME
industry, should advance legislative proposals that could adversely
impact its O&P members.