Indiana Introduces HME Licensure Bill, Proposes Medicaid Cuts

INDIANAPOLIS–A bill requiring Indiana HME licensure is making
its way through the state legislature with support from the state
Medicaid agency.

“[The Association for Indiana Home Medical Equipment Services]
has been working for the last three years to get HMEs licensed,”
said Jean Macdonald, AIHMES’ director of public policy. HME
licensure had stalled until the state attorney general’s office
made HME fraud prevention one of its priorities last year, she
said. Since, the licensure bill “has sailed through the Senate, and
it is now in the House.”

She added that the bill has strong support from the Indiana
Family and Social Services Administration, which runs Indiana
Medicaid. The bill itself lists specific equipment that would
require provider licensure, including wheelchairs, hospital beds
and oxygen. Those selling DME not mentioned in the bill, such as
canes and walkers, would not need a license.

In other Indiana news, FSSA Secretary Mitch Roob has proposed
ways to curb Medicaid spending growth by $76 million. Besides a
freeze in provider payments and discounted drug purchasing, Roob
wants the state to buy wheelchairs and other DME “in bulk,” though
details have yet to be released.

AIHMES members will be meeting with government officials soon
“to clarify the situation,” Macdonald said, adding that Medicaid
officials have “been very willing to listen and take our
counsel.”

To view the licensure legislation, visit the Indiana General
Assembly Web site by
clicking here.