AAHomecare Prepares Members for 2016 Competitive Bid Fee Schedule

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 24, 2016)—Just minutes after AAHomecare updated members about the status of rural relief legislation on Capitol Hill, they received CMS’s announcement of the release of the 2016 DMEPOS fee schedule amounts set to take effect on July 1 for certain items outside of Competitive Bid Areas that were adjusted based on information from the bidding program.

• Downloadable files with new fee schedule amounts can be found here.
• More information and examples of selected price changes from 2015 to 2016 can be found in CMS’s newly released fact sheet. Price changes in rural items shown in CMS’s examples range from a 10 percent reduction for insulin pump rental rates to an 80 percent reduction for TENS units (contiguous U.S. rates). Among the 15 products highlighted in the fact sheet, eleven show reductions of 50 percent or greater vs. the 2015 fee schedule.

AAHomecare will analyze a selection of the codes that will be representative of overall cuts and provide additional information shortly, but it’s clear that these are cuts that will be devastating for providers and patients alike in these areas, and ultimately unsustainable for a healthcare infrastructure serving the needs of a growing senior population, as well as people with disabilities and chronic conditions who depend on HME.

Find the CMS press release here.

Visit aahomecare.org for more information.