Author

Cara C. Bachenheimer

Cara C. Bachenheimer, Esq., heads up the government affairs practice at Brown & Fortunato, a law firm with a national health care practice based in Texas. Her practice focuses on federal lobbying activities with Congress, the administration and federal regulatory agencies such as CMS, the Food and Drug Administration, the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Aviation Administration. Bachenheimer has been closely involved with the home medical equipment industry for 30 years, working in Washington, D.C., as well as on a grassroots basis across the country. She is a member of HomeCare’s Editorial Advisory Board. She can be reached at (571) 643-1676 or [email protected].

  • Washington Wit & Wisdom

    Decoding CMS Referral Data

    In early October, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released new data which provides a wealth of information related to durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS) provided to Medicare beneficiaries via referrals from physicians and other health care professionals. The 2013 data set is called, “The Referring Provider Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics and Supplies (DMEPOS) Public Use File” and is part of CMS’s Medicare Provider Utilization and Payment Data set. The new data includes information on 385,915 referring providers, more than 100 million claims and $11 billion in Medicare allowed payments for calendar year 2013. The data is posted on the CMS website at cms.gov/research-statistics-data-and-systems/statistics-trends-and-reports/medicare-provider-charge-data/dme.html. The data set identifies individual providers who referred DMEPOS items and services using their National...

    Read More →

  • HomeCare Experts

    Back to School, Recess is Over!

    With August recess behind them, Congress returns to Washington, D.C. this month with a full agenda. Our challenge will be to get key industry policy objectives addressed by Congress. There are two top legislative priorities—one impacts the complex rehab technology (CRT) community, and one impacts the entire home medical equipment (HME) community. CRT Accessory Payment Issue On July 27, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) introduced a bill—H.R. 3229—that addresses the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) plan to apply competitive bid program pricing to complex rehab technology (CRT) wheelchair accessories effective January 1, 2016. The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA) excluded CRT wheelchairs and accessories from the Medicare competitive bidding program. At the time, Congress could not have anticipated that...

    Read More →

  • Washington Wit & Wisdom

    Frequently Asked Questions

    In December 2014, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) posted on the Web a "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQ) document stating that when it implements its authority to apply bid rates in non-bid areas starting in January 2016, it will apply bid rates to certain complex rehab accessories (such as seat/back cushions, recline/tilt systems, or specialty controls) that have never been included in the Medicare DME bidding program.

    Read More →

  • Shelly Sez

    The Rate Reality

    In addition to changing rates in non-bid locations, CMS plans to lower certain rates based on regional calculations, all under the guise of streamlining the bid program

    Read More →