We’re in the battle of our lives, ladies and gentlemen.” And so began Tom Ryan’s comments at the American Association for Homecare Update on the first full day at Medtrade Spring. With his characteristic blend of passion and directness, the AAHomecare chairman concluded with the familiar plea for providers to educate lawmakers about the services they provide. “And I’ll be damned if I’m going to see this become a commodity industry,” he added.

Meanwhile, long-time AAHomecare counsel Asela Cuervo, JD, urged attendees to ask Congress to repeal the 36-month oxygen cap and the 13-month HME rental caps. She also warned that the Bush budget proposal to further limit oxygen rental to 13 months “should be taken seriously.” The good news is that a budget has not been passed in an election year since the early 1990s.

After both presentations, the mood in the room went from tense to incredulous as one attendee spoke up about the need for an annual conference in Washington, DC, to lobby Capitol Hill as a unified group. Ryan calmly explained that AAHomecare has in fact done this for the past several years. From across the room, Alabama DME Association Execu-tive Director Michael W. Hamilton (a Dealer/Provider editorial advisory board member) chimed in that state associations throughout the country have also been doing these visits for a lot longer.

Standing room only: It may have been 7:30 on a Las Vegas morning, but a large crowd turned up for the AAHomecare Update to kick off Medtrade Spring.

On the final day of Medtrade, I finally caught up with Tom Ryan and asked him how he managed to stay standing after hearing that “new” conference idea. “It blew me away,” he confessed. And what about the continuing murmur about moving Medtrade to Washington, DC, to spur greater Capitol Hill attendance? Cara Bachenheimer, JD, and David T. Williams advocated the idea in their Our Turn column way back in December 2004 (check www.hhcdealer.com to access the article in our free archives). In addition to large contractual limitations, Ryan believes that the shows have two separate goals and merit two separate trips. “You shouldn’t have to have a Medtrade to draw advocacy,” he says. A great time and place to heed Ryan’s advice is June 19-20 in Washington, DC, for the annual Legislative Fly-In. Details can be found at www.aahomecare.org.

Greg Thompson

In the midst of the legislative uncertainty, the familiar hum of commerce raged on at Medtrade as manufacturers rolled out some truly innovative products. Despite the familiar concerns (competitive bidding, accreditation, oxygen caps, HR 3559 [92 signed on as of press time], and HR 4994 [a brand-new bill to carve rehab out of competitive bidding]), I heard from manufacturers and pro-viders who were excited about their busi-ness and justifiably proud of their work.

Ultimately, providers don’t have the luxury of waiting around, and we at Dealer/Provider will continue our mission to help you thrive no matter what comes down the pike. One great way to get the answers you need is through a Web-only feature we call Expert Insight (EI). EI allows you to ask a distinguished panel of experts (for FREE with no strings attached) about whatever is on your mind. All answers will be posted on the Web site in a timely manner, and will be available for the benefit of all viewers. To ask a question or view the answers already posted, go to www.hhcdealer.com.   DP