As stories of a snag in his confirmation as HHS secretary floated across the Internet, ABC News reported late Friday that former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., owed more than $128,000 in back taxes mostly on a car-and-driver service. The revelation came just two weeks after Timothy Geithner, President Obama's nominee as treasury secretary, admitted he owed $34,000 in taxes.
HomeCare News
The National Association of Independent Medical Equipment Suppliers, Halifax, Va., said it is offering its 2009 Grassroots Legislative Support Program to all NAIMES and state association members at no cost. The program includes congressional staff updates, legislators' town hall meeting information and a "Congress tracker" that tracks activity for all members of Congress.
As of January, 45 states face budget shortfalls this year and next, and at least 25 of them have plans to — or already have — cut various public health services and insurance programs for low-income residents to reduce those deficits.
Three years after Administrative Law Judge hearings were transferred from the Social Security Administration to HHS (as mandated under the Medicare Modernization Act), a follow-up report from the Office of Inspector General said it found no problems.
At a town hall discussion last month on health care at VGM Group headquarters in Waterloo, Iowa, Congressman Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, and 30 other attendees braved blizzard conditions Jan. 12 to share experiences and concerns about the U.S. health care system.
In a notice issued Jan. 27, NHIC, the Jurisdiction A DME MAC, said it has found incorrect denials for 2009 oxygen contents claims billed for beneficiaries who had reached the 36-month payment cap. The claims were denied with code CO-97: The benefit for this service is included in the payment/allowance for another service/procedure that has already been adjudicated.
National Government Services, the Jurisdiction B DME MAC, has developed a letter that providers can use to help in educating physicians about documentation of the medical need for therapeutic shoes and inserts. View a PDF of the physician letter on therapeutic shoes.
Providers from Arkansas to Ohio swung into action last week as more than 1 million homes lost electricity due to severe winter storms. According to press reports, many may remain without power for up to two weeks.
Through its listserv, CMS has released the following guidance on oxygen and oxygen equipment, including billing for contents and replacement equipment as well as documentation guidelines.
The agency said an MLN Matters article will be forthcoming that incorporates the information included in its message, which follows:
Medicare Billing Requirements and Policies for Replacement of Oxygen Equipment and Oxygen Contents
WASHINGTON — Just hours after becoming the nation's 44th president, Barack Obama gave the HME industry more time — maybe — to work on derailing DMEPOS competitive bidding.
ARLINGTON, Va. — On Friday, the American Association for Homecare sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary-Designate Tom Daschle and chairmen of key congressional committees urging them to review and rescind CMS' new interim final rule on competitive bidding.
WASHINGTON — Calling Medicare's accreditation requirement "unnecessary and unfair," Reps. Marion Berry, D-Ark., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., introduced a bill on Wednesday that would exempt pharmacists.
BALTIMORE — Along with its interim final rule for DMEPOS competitive bidding, CMS also announced the members of its new Program Advisory and Oversight Committee.
AMARILLO, Texas — With all the confusion surrounding CMS' new post-cap oxygen payment rules, it's time for some answers. In a special series for HomeCare Monday, Lisa K. Smith, Esq., an attorney with the Health Care Group at Brown & Fortunato, P.C., a law firm based in Amarillo, Texas, responds to several of home medical equipment providers' most common questions about the new rules.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — In December, Caplugs acquired an injection molding operation in the PuDong district of Shanghai, China. The location will stock and manufacture the company's standard product line and offer full tool making capabilities for custom part requirements.
SAN DIEGO — SeQual Technologies and wound care manufacturer AOTI Ltd., based in Tamarac, Fla., and Galway, Ireland, have partnered to offer SeQual's Integra and Eclipse 2 oxygen systems in Europe.
BALTIMORE — Charlene Frizzera, CMS COO, will act as administrator of the agency until the Obama administration puts forth its own nominee. Frizzera replaces Kerry N. Weems, who has been CMS acting administrator since 2007.
WASHINGTON — In its Annual Performance Report for FY 2008, HHS' Office of Inspector General said the return on investment for its expenditures related to the Medicare and Medicaid programs was $17 for every $1 spent in the three-year period from 2006 through 2008.
WELLESLEY, Mass. — According to a new report from BCC Research, the U.S. advanced wound care market generated nearly $3.5 billion in 2008 and is expected to increase to $6 billion by 2013, a compound annual growth rate of 11.3 percent.