Summer Initiatives

30 years ago

Today, CMS touts competitive bidding as the revolutionary new way to reduce Medicare spending, but 30 years ago, what was then called the Department of Health Education and Welfare (HEW), was singing a different tune. Namely that the government needed to better understand the HME industry, as home care is by far less costly than in-patient hospital stays.

During a meeting of the a National Affiliation of Durable Medical Equipment Companies (NADMEC), then HEW officer John O’Hara Jr. told attendees “We need your help, ideas and input in devising ways to contain costs and stretch the dollars we do have so that they are available for the obvious partial solution to escalating costs of health care — and that is taking care of the patient at home.”

20 years ago

Homedco, formerly National Medical Homecare, was the first HME company scheduled to be surveyed for accreditation by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

During a press conference for the National Association of Medical Equipment Services (NAMES), Homedco President of Sales Dennis Walsh said the company “aggressively attempted to go through the process first” because “it is a value to affirm the fact that we are a quality equipment provider.”

On the legislative front, Inspector General Richard Kusserow vowed to make prosecution of Medicare fraud and abuse easier than ever through new authority granted by Congress. That authority, given through Public Law 100-93, allowed Kusserow to set definite parameters as to what constitutes acceptable HME business practice, specifically when referring to kickbacks.

Additionally, HomeCare reported on the benefits of bringing the computer age into individual HME businesses.

10 years ago

June saw HME looking toward both the positives and negatives of the future. On the upside, HomeCare reported on the influx of new technology and products that would revolutionize the industry.

On the down side, HME companies were preparing for the competitive bidding demonstration project, which was scheduled to begin in 1999. Bidding categories would include oxygen, hospital beds, urological supplies, enteral nutrition and surgical dressings. A full five years before the passage of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, industry groups including the National Association of Medical Equipment Services (NAMES) were attempting to rally the industry to fight competitive bidding in what the organization deemed a “holy war.”

Also of note:

• Concern is rising over skyrocketing health care costs. In 1940, Americans spent $3.8 billion on health care services. By 1978, spending had escalated to $200 billion, 10 percent of the nation’s gross national product.