As of March 12, HR 3790, the U.S. House of Representatives bill that would replace competitive bidding with a cost-identical alternative, had gained 176 cosponsors. To gain a 217-person majority, it would need just 41 more cosponsors.
Representatives who signed on in the second week of March include Robert Andrews (D-NJ), Gresham Barrett (R-SC), and Susan Davis (D-CA).
During an address at a March conference hosted by AAHomecare, Jonathan Blum, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) director of the Center for Medicare Management, said, “To our minds, no other program but competitive bidding can ensure that we have the best possible price and also the highest quality providers at the same time.”
