Through the Years

30 years ago

Like the fledgling home medical equipment industry, HomeCare magazine started small 30 years ago. Our first issue, published in November 1978, contained 33 pages chock full of news and products. Additionally, the magazine began its now decades-old tradition of industry analysis, featuring segments like “Information Please” and “Frankly Speaking” to give HME providers insights from the experts to help with running their businesses and serving their customers better.

While the faces of both HomeCare and the HME industry have changed over the years, the fears of government challenges and rising operating costs have remained at the forefront. Consider this segment from that very first issue:

The DME rental and sales industry faces a classic case of good news and bad news, based on the comments of DME dealers asked to forecast the 1979 business climate. The good news is business, in general, is expected to be brisk as home health care, accelerated by rising hospital costs, gains acceptance with the laity as well as insurance companies concerned about lowering pay-outs for medical treatment bills. But on the negative side, dealers believe Medicare will continue to place more roadblocks in front of common sense paths to fair renting and selling of DME.

Despite the obstacles, both the HME industry and HomeCare have weathered the storms for, as then-Editor Richard Steffen remarked in his column, “This is no time to ignore problems, nor avoid growth.”

20 years ago

January of 1988 began with a boon for the HME industry as President Ronald Reagan had just signed the Six-Point Plan into law. The plan, the passage of which took a three-year lobbying effort championed by the National Association of Medical Equipment Suppliers (NAMES) and the Health Industry Distributors Association (HIDA), was designed to provide Medicare reimbursement stability for at least three years.

As passed, the plan established a flat-fee reimbursement system for oxygen that was calculated on a modality-neutral basis, along with flat-fee reimbursements for “traditional rentals” — including canes, walkers, electric beds and wheelchairs and provisions.

Additionally, the Six-Point Plan required Medicare carriers to disclose the data used in developing rate calculations.

Also of interest in January 1988:

• NAMES established its first Code of Ethics. As NAMES Vice President Jan Bourne told HomeCare, “The board believes the collective goal expressed by the code will improve the integrity of the whole industry.”
• The eighth National Home Health Care Exposition, held in Atlanta, saw record crowds as more than 10,000 people attended the show.

10 years ago

While Medicare reform had been addressed in 1997’s Balanced Budget Act, in January of 1998 the HME industry was busy contemplating even further changes from Congress.

On the early 1998 radar: anti-fraud and abuse legislation, which included provisions to standardize certificates of medical necessity and certificates of terminal illness; multiple bills addressing patient rights and managed care, including the Patient Access to Responsible Care Act; and the establishment of universal product numbers under the Medicare Universal Product Number Act.

Also of interest in January 1998:

• The Office of the Inspector General announced that it would be taking a closer look at HME to assess operations, allowances, reimbursement and medical necessity in the areas of oxygen, DMERCs and billing.
• The industry noted a recent spate of acquisitions: Respironics’ acquisition of Healthdyne, Graham-Field’s acquisition of Lumex and Invacare’s acquisition of Allied Medical Supply.

Check this page each month in 2008 to see what’s changed, what’s stayed the same — and how far the HME industry has come.