The time between November and the new year is called the “lame-duck session” due to some legislators finishing up their term after losing in the recent elections. That doesn’t mean that the process of legislating stops, as two fiscal issues are likely to be a major focus during the last weeks of the 117th Congress: getting an omnibus spending bill done, and deciding whether or not to deal with the debt limit. Typically, during the lame-duck session, legislators are free to make decisions that exercise the standard powers with little fear of consequence. Simply put, they are more apt to sign on to bills.
As we enter the final weeks of the 117th Congress and 2022, the VGM Government Relations team will be working to push Congress to include reimbursement relief into any end-of-the-year packages.
What can you do to help pass reimbursement relief for DMEPOS?
We strongly encourage you (and your co-workers, friends, and family) to reach out to your members of Congress before Thanksgiving and ask them to support a 90/10 blended rate in CBAs, and to extend the 75/25 rate relief for non-CBA suppliers granted in the CARES Act. You can quickly and easily send a message by visiting our website where a prepared message is housed. We’ve created the message so that you can edit it to include your own, personalized story of how this impacts you, your business, and your customers. Click here to enter your zip code and send a message to your Senator and member of Congress.
Survey: What are your priorities for 2023?
As reported last week, VGM held its annual State Leaders’ Summit at the VGM headquarters in Waterloo, IA. There, the group of state associations leaders were able to network and share ideas with other associations. They also discussed industry concerns within their local membership. The group of state association leaders came up with a solid list of priorities for 2023, including:
Improved reimbursement
Audit relief
MCO/Medicaid accountability
Medicare Advantage Plans
CRT issues, coverage, right to repair
Merging Medicare A & B
Marketing efforts to showcase the HME story
Sequestration
We want to hear from you! We want to know what are VGM members' priorities are for 2023. The VGM Government Relations team will review the survey responses and frame our planning for 2023 around the feedback received.
This survey will be open for one week, closing next Tuesday, Nov. 29! Please take a minute to fill out this short survey, letting us know what your primary concerns are in 2023.