The Committee to Save Independent HME Suppliers (CSIHME) has launched a new Web site (csihme.org) to highlight its activities and urge support for various home medical equipment issues.

An open letter on the site’s home page says CSIHME “was created to retain a lobbyist and publicist to represent and advance the agenda of the HME industry from the independent, small business perspective.”

“The very existence of the independent HME provider is being challenged by forces from many directions,” the letter says. “CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) consistently treats HME providers as a second-class element of the health-care system. Contractors to CMS responsible for serving the HME provider community treat us as guilty until proven innocent.”

Among the issues currently being addressed by CSIHME, according to a news release about the new Web site, are competitive bidding and the first-month purchase option for power chairs.

Publicist Crystal Wright of the Baker Wright Group has been working with major media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, CSIHME says, to discuss the impact of CMS policies on beneficiaries.