WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 16, 2021)—In recognition of their dedication and knowledgeable contributions to our membership, AAHomecare staff David Chandler, Ashley Plauché, and Mina Uehara received promotions within the American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare).

Chandler will now serve as the senior director of payer relations. Since joining AAHomecare in 2019, he has been instrumental in expanding the reach of our payer relations team and providing significant support to our state and regional HME association partners in joint engagement with state legislators, Medicaid authorities and managed care organizations to maintain broad patient access. He has also been actively involved with our continued efforts to establish relationships and build out strategies to promote the value of HME companies with commercial and private payers.

Ashley Plauché has served in various capacities since joining AAHomecare since 2015. Advancing to director of member and public relations, she is project manager for key association initiatives, is heavily involved in membership prospecting and promotion efforts, and co-leads the Grassroots Accountability Project to recruit and activate grassroots advocates on HME priorities. She will continue coordinating the efforts of the Association’s Medical Supplies, CRMC, Corporate CEO, and HME/RT councils, as well as several related work groups.

Mina Uehara, now promoted to director of regulatory affairs, has been a part of AAHomecare since 2014. Mina continues her strong leadership role with AAHomecare’s Regulatory Council as well as analyzing and responding to the constant stream of new and changing regulations from CMS and other agencies. She developed a comprehensive bid calculator that was widely used by the HME community to help HME suppliers understand how lead items bids in Round 2021 would impact non-lead items as well as a framework to track trends in the HME supplier population.