07/16/2008
CONTACT: Ron Aldridge, 601-201-1323 or Todd Pack, 615-872-5897
Provisions are critical to the state's small healthcare businesses
JACKSON, Miss. -- The state office of the National Federation of Independent Business today thanked Mississippi's Congressional delegation for voting to overturn the presidential veto of House Resolution 6331, "The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act."
"Senators Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker, along with Representatives Travis Childers, Bennie Thompson, Chip Pickering and Gene Taylor, all voted in favor of this legislation," said Ron Aldridge, state director of NFIB/Mississippi. "We're glad they kept the concerns of small business owners in mind in voting to override the veto."
NFIB, the nation's leading small business group, was not directly involved in discussions about some of the larger issues debated in H.R. 6331, but Aldridge said he was pleased that two issues of critical importance to small business were addressed in the Medicare bill.
Specifically, the bill includes both prompt pay for small and independent pharmacists, and a delay in the Medicare competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment. "These provisions are essential to providing the financial certainty necessary for Mississippi's small healthcare businesses to meet their obligations and help the people who depend on their services," Aldridge said.
Delayed reimbursements in the Medicare Part D program have forced small and independent pharmacists to delay expansions and borrow from their savings to cover payroll, wholesaler bills and other basic operating costs. Prompt pay ensures that claims submitted electronically are paid within 14 days and that all other claims are paid within 30 days.
The legislation also halts an unworkable competitive bidding program. As currently structured, if they lost a bid, small businesses worry they would be locked out of the Medicare marketplace altogether, threatening to put them out of business. An 18-month delay in the program provides the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) an opportunity to make necessary improvements to the program so that small businesses are not unnecessarily harmed.
