FW: [OANDP-L] <US Politics> O&P Urged to Oppose VGM Medicare Com petitive Bidding Alternative

FW: [OANDP-L] <US Politics> O&P Urged to Oppose VGM Medicare Com petitive Bidding Alternative

Jim Andreassen

11/27/2002

To List Serve Members,

Thank you to AOPA for their posting on national competitive bidding. We are
all very concerned about what is happening in DC and want to find some way
to get them to refocus on patient care and stop trying to balance the budget
on the backs of O & P practitioners. While it is true that VGM is the
parent company of OPGA, we have, in the past, and will continue to in the
future, operate as completely separate entities. We understand that DME and
O&P are different industries and should be treated accordingly.

OPGA has not or does not endorse a Medicare freeze on O&P reimbursement
levels. In fact, as you might recall from past list serve traffic, we have
been a large advocate for the O&P industry in the battle against competitive
bidding.

I did check with VGM to be sure I understood what they had surveyed their
Members on. OPGA continually responds to the needs of its Members and is
not interested in solutions which don't work for them. However, I do not
see anything in what VGM has proposed for HME which would prevent us from
continuing the battle to STOP competitive bidding or, that failing, keep it
from including O&P. Also understand that VGM was merely surveying it's
Members in order to better identify the needs of the DME/HME industry.
Beyond that, nothing has been done. First and foremost, we all (AOPA, OPGA,
and VGM) want to stop national competitive bidding.

We look forward to working with AOPA and all O&P practitioners to defeat
national competitive bidding. We are open to any suggestions as to how to
best approach the problem.

If anyone has any questions regarding these matters, please feel free to
call John Gallagher, Vice President of Government Relations for VGM &
Associates.

Jim Andreassen
President, OPGA


Following is a response from James E. Walsh Jr., President of VGM
Management, LTD:

Jim,

You inquired regarding the recent survey that VGM sent out to Members of
it's 3 HME groups. I have given you a copy and reviewed the underlying
assumptions and logic. As I understand it, VGM will gather responses and
confer with the American Association for Homecare legislative people and
determine after congress reconvenes if any new legislation is forthcoming
and, if so, how to react.

VGM never suggested in it's survey that the freeze in CPI increases (3 years
was suggested) would include O & P. Of course we understand that O & P is a
very different business from HME. Your OPGA Members have good reason to
insist that they NOT be included in any legislation that is based on a
commodity purchasing rational and you and AOPA and many, many O & P
Practitioners have made consistent and effective arguments to Congress (and
anyone else who would listen) supporting continued recognition of the
professional nature of an O & P practice.

The VGM Members (HME dealers) will decide if they think there is ANY
effective way to fight off national competitive bidding but I can assure you
that no one at VGM has or will offer a freeze for O & P practitioners. (We
suspect that the people in DC already know how to freeze prices if they
wanted to anyway.)

I do caution you that if congress gets away with competitive bidding for HME
it will immediately look for other areas to apply it. It is a concept that
anyone in anyway involved in medical care should fight just as hard as they
can. They WILL come for others if they can do it to HME.

Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention.


James E. Walsh Jr.
President, VGM Management, Ltd.
General Counsel, VGM Group


-----Original Message-----
From: AOPA [mailto:<Email Address Redacted>]
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2002 12:53 PM
To: <Email Address Redacted>
Subject: [OANDP-L] <US Politics> O&P Urged to Oppose VGM Medicare
Competitive Bidding Alternative


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.