Court decision on health care reform could impact HME industry

The Supreme Court’s expected decision on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 could have a big impact on the home medical equipment industry, the American Association for Homecare reported last week.

The act included significant payment cuts and policy changes that reduced HME reimbursement by about $8 billion over 10 years, AAHomecare reported.

“The most notable provisions in the ACA that impacted HME were: an expansion of the competitive bidding program by 21 additional areas, the application of a medical device tax, the elimination of the first-month purchase option for standard power wheelchairs, an adjustment of the Medicare fee schedule by a productivity adjustment factor and the elimination of a 2 percent increase in fee schedule payments in non-competitive bid areas previously scheduled to take effect in 2014,’’ AAHomecare reported.

Last week, the Supreme Court heard arguments on the constitutionality of the law. The court could rule that the law is constitutional. It could rule that parts of the law are unconstitutional—such as the individual mandate. Or, it could rule the entire law is unconstitutional, and if that occurs, HME provisions would be eliminated, although it is likely that a replacement law would be passed by Congress.

The Supreme Court is expected to issue an opinion in late June.