UOAA Advocacy News

By Jeanine Gleba, UOAA Director of Advocacy

A Significant Step Forward - Bill to Delay and Review Competitive Bidding Introduced in Congress

U.S. Representative Greg Murphy (R-NC) and Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL) recently introduced the bill "Access to Medical Supplies Act." Read the full bill text: Bill H.R. 10787.  

The Access to Medical Supplies Act provides a practical path forward to address the concerns central to our advocacy efforts. Rather than permanently exempting ostomy and urological supplies from competitive bidding, the legislation would:

• Provide a five-year delay on competitive bidding for ostomy and urological supplies, from January 1, 2028, through December 31, 2032.
• Establish a Technical Expert Panel composed of patients, caregivers, clinicians, reimbursement experts, suppliers, and manufacturers to evaluate the impact of competitive bidding and recommend appropriate safeguards.
• Require CMS to conduct a limited demonstration in no more than three states over 12 months to assess the effects of competitive bidding on beneficiary access and health outcomes before broader implementation.
• Protect patient access and product choice by establishing safeguards to ensure beneficiaries can obtain the same or clinically comparable products they need by prohibiting contract suppliers from pressuring beneficiaries to switch brands.

These requirements underscore the need to fully assess the potential impact of competitive bidding on access to highly individualized medical supplies before implementing a nationwide program that could significantly alter the supplier landscape and jeopardize Medicare beneficiaries’ access to these essential products.

Getting this bill introduced was a heavy lift by many stakeholders advocating on this issue, and although a win, much more work continues to see this to the finish line. 

As a member of the ITEM Coalition, UOAA also signed onto the letter that was sent on October 12th to the sponsors of the bill commending them on their bipartisan leadership and for recognizing the need to protect beneficiary access while ensuring appropriate oversight of Medicare spending.  

In other good news for this advocacy effort, the national petition has surpassed 2,000 signatures! Please read the report: Protecting Medicare Patient Access to Ostomy and Urological Supplies: What 2,116 Patients, Caregivers and Clinicians are Telling Congress About Medicare Competitive Bidding which highlights the petition’s key findings and the implications for our ongoing advocacy. The report provides a useful snapshot of who has signed the petition, the nationwide reach of opposition, and the actions advocates are asking Congress and the Administration to take.

UOAA Advocates - What’s Our Next Move?

UOAA needs to mobilize all of our advocates and anyone concerned with this issue! Can we count on you? We need all hands on deck to get as many co-sponsors as possible. Please take action TODAY by contacting your Member of Congress in the House! With election day around the corner, remind your Representative that they work for you and you will be looking for their name on the list of co-sponsors before you walk into the voting booth this November. Only constituents aka YOU can urge them to become a co-sponsor of H.R. 10787! Please share the action alert with your family and friends too!

We Spread Ostomy Awareness Across America! 

Thousands of people participated in #OstomyDay2026 on Saturday, October 3rd! 

There were vendor fairs, social media posts, Run for Resilience 5ks in-person and virtually, support group meetings and even a Wonderword! Thank you to all of our advocates who submitted requests for their Governor's proclamation recognizing Ostomy Awareness Day as noted in the map below! We also had 9 Congressional offices submit Congressional Record statements for the day too! We showed the country we are "One Community - Stronger Together"!