{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://mcmorris.house.gov/mcmorris-rodgers-loebsack-introduce-bipartisan-legislation-provide-access-durable-medical-equipment/", "McMorris Rodgers, Loebsack Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Provide Access to Durable Medical Equipment", "2017-11-02", "2017", "2017-11", "Republican", "House", "WA", "Cathy McMorris Rodgers", "M001159", "mcmorris.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 2, 2017) \u2013 Today, Eastern Washington Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) and Congressman Dave Loebsack (IA-02) introduced the bipartisan Protecting Home Oxygen & Medical Equipment (HOME) Access Act of 2017, to preserve access to durable medical equipment (DME), especially in rural communities, by addressing severe cuts to reimbursement rates. Specifically, this legislation delays the July 2016 cuts to DME payments in rural areas, which slashed Medicare reimbursement rates by more than 50 percent on average, and shields payment rates for oxygen concentrators from an outdated regulation that was never intended to apply to rates derived from the Competitive Bidding Program (CBP).\n\u201cFrom seniors to those with disabilities or chronic conditions, people in Eastern Washington rely on durable medical equipment to go about their daily lives\u2014whether it\u2019s to simply walk around without falling or to breathe normally when their lungs can no longer do it on their own,\u201d said McMorris Rodgers. \u201cBut this equipment cannot save lives if it isn\u2019t made available to those who need it most, especially in rural communities where we know barriers to access health care already exist. I\u2019m proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation to rectify these cuts and provide relief for patients in Eastern Washington and across the county.\u201d\n\u201cSlashing reimbursement rates in rural areas for necessary medical equipment, such as oxygen machines, means many Iowans won\u2019t have access to the often lifesaving equipment they need,\u201d said Loebsack. \u201cWe must work to delay this regulation that hits rural communities hardest. I am pleased to work on a bipartisan basis with Rep. McMorris Rodgers and nearly 50 cosponsors to correct this decision and ensure patients, no matter where they live, have access to the medical equipment they need.\u201d\nNOTE: In June, Rep. McMorris Rodgers sent a letter to Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma and previous Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price to express concerns with the cuts. The letter states, \u201cOver numerous years, CMS has made significant policy and regulatory changes that have resulted in significant reductions in reimbursement. We are concerned that these reductions may have caused access issues for Medicare beneficiaries and shifted costs to other areas of Medicare.\u201d In response, CMS announced a policy change addressing one of the four concerns in the letter, but did not propose changes to the DME CBP. This legislation aims to solve two of the remaining policy requests. You can view the letter and its 154 bipartisan cosigners here.\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://mcmorris.house.gov/mcmorris-rodgers-loebsack-introduce-bipartisan-legislation-provide-access-durable-medical-equipment/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2958699371665716, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}