Happy holidays from the Home Health Care Dealer/ Provider team. From left: Cassandra Estes, art director; Lauren Hirigoyen, news editor; Lena Lindahl, editor in chief; and Kim McGraw, publisher.

The winter holidays always make me remember friends and family. The people you believe in who will stand by you even during the dark times are the ones I choose to celebrate at this time of year.

Sadly, in 2002 the HME industry lost one of those remarkable people when Senator Max Cleland failed to win reelection to the US Senate. The Georgia Democrat has been a passionate advocate for the patient groups this industry serves since he had both legs and an arm amputated in the Vietnam war, and when he learned about national competitive bidding, he became a powerful advocate for HME as well. “Count me as a friend,” he told attendees at the American Association for Homecare’s June Washington Conference and then proceeded to prove it by writing letters to the Senate leadership stating his opposition to competitive bidding and speaking at an anti-competitive bidding press conference hosted by The Coalition for Access to Medical Services, Equipment, and Technology (CAMSET).

Our industry was not a large part of his constituency and could do little to get him reelected, but Cleland did not seem to care. His beliefs meant more.

“He is just a genuine guy and as close as a brother,” says David T. Williams, government relations director for Invacare, Elyria, Ohio, and a friend of Cleland’s since 1978. “[His loss] will hurt the industry because our most vocal, respected, and believable spokesperson is now out of the fight. Max could go into anyone’s office, Democrat or Republican, and speak from the heart about the benefit of home health care and rehab technology and say it in a way that no one else could.”

From the looks of things, the industry could sure use an advocate like him next year. While the 107th Congress ended without passing national competitive bidding, it is still high on the government’s agenda as the article, “No Competitive Bidding, For Now” explains on page 10.

I worry that if competitive bidding passes, as some industry experts predict, HME providers may believe their grassroots lobbying efforts were in vain or blame their national association for the loss. This is the worst thing that could happen because if the industry is to make the best of a bad situation and help determine how competitive bidding is implemented, it needs to maintain the intensity and united front it developed fighting competitive bidding during the past year. Or, in other words, it needs to stay genuine and true to its beliefs no matter what, like Cleland.

To help accomplish that goal, Dealer/Provider magazine will be there to keep you up to date on the latest legislative changes that could impact your business and offer ideas on how to take the government’s lemons and make lemonade. Congress may not give this industry what it wants, or even what it needs, in 2003. But if there is one thing HME providers know how to do, it is adapt and survive.

So enjoy the holidays and I will see you next year.

—Lena Lindahl,
llindahl@medpubs.com