July 6, 2016Print PDF | summit

Four Highlights From HIDA’s Washington Summit

Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL), shakes hands with Akhil Agrawal, American Medical Depot, as other HIDA member executives look on.

Alexandria, Va. More than 60 healthcare supply chain executives met in Washington DC, at the end of June for HIDA’s annual Washington Summit. The attendees participated in over 100 meetings with members of Congress and key staffers, a new record.

Among the highlights from participants’ meetings with legislators:

• Emergency preparedness is a top priority for HIDA members and policy-makers alike. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) and HHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Ed Gabriel spoke to members about better public and private sector collaboration.
• Participants sought a 12-month delay for the competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) implementation.  HIDA members called on legislators to delay implementation of competitive bidding pricing in non-competitive bidding areas by 12 months. HIDA members also supported legislation that would require the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to gather input from stakeholders and take into account travel cost, volume and information on the number of providers serving bid areas as part of rate-setting activities.
• Participants thanked legislators for the medical device tax moratorium. HIDA members thanked legislators for the two-year delay on the Affordable Care Act’s 2.3% excise tax on medical devices. Participants further asked that this moratorium be made permanent, adding that its potential reintroduction has held down investment and hiring.
• HIDA members called for implementation of a uniform national standard for licensing wholesale medical distributors. HIDA members specifically called for a uniform code that would allow individual states to license wholesale distributors. They added that this code should not require a separate prescription device license if the wholesaler has a pharmaceutical wholesaler license pursuant to the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA).

Find out Summit information at www.HIDA.org/Summit.
See the full range of HIDA conferences at www.HIDA.org/Events.