Senate version of Healthcare reform has new twists

Last night the Senate announced an agreement with liberal and moderate Democrats that would allow them to gain the necessary votes to pass a Senate Health Care Bill. To the surprise of many, this includes a change to Medicare eligibility. Instead of moving the age of eligibility from 65 years old to 67 of 69 years (to save money), the agreement includes a move to lower the age of eligibility for Medicare benefits to 55 years old. This is a major expansion of Medicare's rolls.

This generates an important point to raise in the Senate regarding the Medical Equipment Industry. It is counter intuitive to close 90% of Medicare's DME contracted companies while expanding the program by what early estimate expect to be over 30%.
We need our Senators to understand that greater Medicare roles require greater service and more providers. Shutting down 90% of existing companies within 3 years, as the Medicare roles expand, will create a void of service. The dash to fill that void in the future will undoubtedly force rushed approval of new companies and the potential for new fraudulent firms. It makes much more sense to keep the companies that exist, which are currently well regulated and legitimate, than to un-employee hundreds of thousands of workers as Medicare is grown to an unprecedented level.