AAHomecare Calls for Withdrawal of Flawed LCD

WASHINGTON, D.C., (September 23, 2015)—AAHomecare has submitted comments in response to the proposed draft LCD for surgical dressings recently released by the DME MACs. The draft LCD proposes to:

• Add a section for collagen dressings
• Add a section for zinc-paste impregnated gauze
• Add a section for dressings comprised of materials not recognized as effective
• Revise requirements for incompatible dressing materials
• Revise requirements for incompatible dressing change intervals, and
• Revise utilization (change interval) requirements.

AAHomecare requested that the DME MACs withdraw the draft to allow more in-depth opportunities for stakeholders to provide input and discuss the proposals’ impact on access to these technologies with DME MAC Medical Directors. AAHomecare believes the draft is inherently flawed because it displaces the clinician’s judgment and ability to match a dressing to the wound care needs of a specific patient, withdraws coverage for dressings containing honey, creates inconsistent and confusing standards for the use of primary and secondary dressings and proposes ambiguous utilization standards for collagen dressings.

Read the full comments here.