Bill Text: GA HR1972 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: House Durable Medical Equipment Study Committee; create
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 3-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-04-14 - House Second Readers [HR1972 Detail]
Download: Georgia-2009-HR1972-Introduced.html
10 LC
94 3144
House
Resolution 1972
By:
Representatives Kidd of the
141st,
Collins of the
27th,
Channell of the
116th,
and Parrish of the
156th
A
RESOLUTION
Creating
the House Durable Medical Equipment Study Committee; and for other
purposes.
WHEREAS,
the term "durable medical equipment" is used to describe medical equipment used
by a patient to aid quality of life; and
WHEREAS,
durable medical equipment includes a wide variety of equipment from wheelchairs
and crutches to blood glucose machines; and
WHEREAS,
the costs of durable medical equipment have risen dramatically in recent years;
and
WHEREAS,
some Georgians in need of durable medical equipment are struggling to afford
vital equipment to maintain their quality of life, and study is needed to
determine why the costs of durable medical equipment have increased so
dramatically; and
WHEREAS,
the federal medicare program is investigating the incidence of fraudulent
suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, and orthotics supplies
which could be leading to increased costs to medicare beneficiaries;
and
WHEREAS,
the United States Department of Health and Human Services has found that certain
products are being billed to medicare at higher than normal rates and include
such items as motorized wheelchairs, nebulizers and aerosol medications,
artificial limbs, and wound therapy treatments; and
WHEREAS,
study is needed to determine if the costs of durable medical equipment in
Georgia are in line with the national average, to analyze why the costs of
durable medical equipment are increasing so rapidly, and to identify if
fraudulent practices are occurring in this state.
NOW,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that there is created
the House Durable Medical Equipment Study Committee to be composed of five
members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. One member
shall be an employee of the Department of Community Health, one shall be a
member of the House Committee on Health and Human Services, and one shall be an
expert in the field of medicare. The Speaker shall designate a member of the
committee as chairperson of the committee. The chairperson shall call all
meetings of the committee.
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the committee shall undertake a study of the
conditions, needs, issues, and problems mentioned above or related thereto and
recommend any action or legislation which the committee deems necessary or
appropriate. The committee may conduct such meetings at such places and at such
times as it may deem necessary or convenient to enable it to exercise fully and
effectively its powers, perform its duties, and accomplish the objectives and
purposes of this resolution. In the event the committee makes a report of its
findings and recommendations, with suggestions for proposed legislation, such
report shall be made on or before December 1, 2010. The committee shall stand
abolished on December 1, 2010.
