Small businesses express concerns over government regulations
Posted: Thu 11:08 PM, Mar 10, 2016
CHEYENNE, Wyo.- Yolanda Swift, Deputy National Ombudsman for Regulatory Fairness Programs says, "We assistant small businesses when they have regulatory issues or concerns of federal enforcement actions that are taken by federal agencies. As a result we have jurisdiction to work with federal agencies to try to resolve issues raised by small businesses."
Small Business Administration's (SBA) National Ombudsman employees were interacting with small businesses in our region to find out what concerns are and talk about suggestions on how to reduce the impacts of the regulations and possible modifications.
Swift says It's important to hear feedback from the public, because these small businesses work with and are providing services to them. Comments and feedback can be given at www.sba.gov or through the local SBA. Contact information for Wyoming's local office can be found at https://www.sba.gov/offices/district/wy/casper
Patricia Orr, COPD Respiratory Services LLC says, "My family has been in the respiratory home oxygen business for almost 40 years."
She says Medicare made a 23% reimbursement cut on services in January and is trying to implement another 23% cut in July. Orr says if someone is on 24 hours oxygen, frequently they are on portable aluminum tanks, and they can utilize anywhere from 10 to 50 a month. She says, "That can cost us upward of $200 to provide that equipment when we're getting a reimbursement of $19 a month."
Michelle McMahon, Frontier Access & Mobility, says she has been in business for 20 years.
McMahon says some struggles she faces is a mandate for certain pieces of complex equipment. There are certain credentials required. She says, "I'm the only one in the state who has that, so if you need a complex piece of equipment through the medicare program I have to be involved with your evaluation." Which means providers or customers must travel across the state.
Another struggle McMahon says she faces is the paperwork process. "The patient doesn't get what they need unless we have the documentation and clinical notes from the physician ..... the national average to get a complex piece of equipment is 90-120 days. Which is crazy, because this isn't something somebody wants. They need it." says McMahon.
The roundtable lasted three hours with businesses in Wyoming and Colorado sharing multiple concerns.
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To provide comments to the Office of the National Ombudsman click here.
The local SBA office's website can be found here.
More information on COPD Respiratory Services LLC can be found here.
For information on Frontier Access & Mobility click here.