Friday, September 17, 2010

It's easy to become Cynical and judgemental in today's political climate. like I said, that's the easy thing to do. I think a lot of the cynicism in today's vernacular is from all the noise. I don't know if citizens realize how well our government uses the Media to get out the message that whomever wants out. As we all know very few in our national government agree on anything, so the messages get a little convoluted.

I regained faith in our political system this week after watching an hour and a half Congressional Energy and Commerce Meeting on Medicare's implementation of Competitive Bidding , often called suicide bidding. I have been under the delusion that Medicare is pulling the wool over Congress's eyes on this suicide bidding issue. I have written in the past that this Competitive Bidding is Competitive in name only. It is a deeply flawed Bidding process for Medical Equipment and Supplies that required delivery by trained and licensed staff. Low ball bids have plagued the process. Many out of state companies have submitted low ball bids and then declined the contract when it was offered. Medicare then moves on to the next Corporation and offers them the contract with the same Low ball price. Lincare, one of the nations leading suppliers of Oxygen, actually received 20 contracts at prices lower than their bid. Their leadership said they will accept the bids at a financial loss hoping that Medicare will change this flawed policy soon.

What impressed me was that Congress makes the law. They gave CMS (Medicare) the task of reducing price through competitive markets. CMS did the exact opposite. They have awarded un-sustainable contracts to out of state suppliers. It is estimated that 80% of small medical suppliers will go out of business when this program is implemented. WHO WILL BID NEXT TIME?? One elderly but very intelligent congressman stated that Medicare is creating a climate for an inevitable monopoly that will eventually increase prices to a level that Medicare will not be able to pay and stay solvent. The members of the committe, Republican and Democrat seemed to really have the interest of the Medicare benificiaries and the General Public at heart. A glimmer of light is that the House has 270 co-sponsors to a H.R.3790 that will stop this suicide, monopoly making bidding. With the hearings and the strong support from the House, I feel that the program will be stopped. Make no mistake. Our government has issues. Things take a long time to get done. There often seems to be little logic in the decisions that are made. With my involvement with this issue I can empathisize with our lawmakers. These matters are so complicated and there are so many matters. They are just Men and Women like you and I. They make the best decisions with the information they have. The problem often lies with the information. Large Lobby's dominate our policy makers time and distribute information that is financially beneficial to their organization. Who could make heads or tails of most of these matters. Well, I will tell you this. There is the Energy and Commerce Committe that seem to be on their game.