HomeCare News

Danish patient transfer manufacturer Ergolet, which has U.S. offices in Minneapolis, has hired Marsha Medlin as director of medical products. Medlin, an RN with a Masters of Public Administration, has experience in caregiver safety, serving previously in management positions for several hospitals and with her own company focusing on safe lifting.

WASHINGTON--The influential Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has appointed two new members, including Herb Kuhn, former deputy administrator of CMS.
 

WASHINGTON--Yesterday, Reps. Tom Price, R-Ga., and Heath Shuler, D-N.C., introduced legislation to repeal the 36-month rental cap on home oxygen therapy. The Home Oxygen Patient Protection (HOPP) Act of 2009 (H.R. 2373) would restore payments for the period of medical need.
 
In a joint statement, Price and Shuler noted the existing law “jeopardizes the patient-provider relationship for home oxygen care after 36 months under Medicare.”
 

WASHINGTON--Patients with at least one chronic disease who used home health care after hospitalization saved Medicare $1.7 billion over a two-year period, according to a study released May 11.
 

BALTIMORE--CMS has announced the June 4 meeting of its new Program Advisory and Oversight Committee to discuss the Round One rebid of competitive bidding is open for public registration.
 
According to a CMS notice:
 

WASHINGTON--On May 11, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius announced the establishment of the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Health Reform. This office will spearhead the department’s efforts to pass urgently needed health reform this year and coordinate closely with the White House Office of Health Reform. Both offices were created by an April 8 Executive Order to help deliver on one of President Obama's top priorities.

WASHINGTON — Stakeholders in the home medical equipment industry are pushing on multiple fronts to ensure the sector's voice is heard as Congress begins crafting a comprehensive health care reform package, they said last week.

WASHINGTON — Sens. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, are trying again with the STOP Act and an accompanying bill aimed at preventing and stopping Medicare and Medicaid fraud.

ATLANTA — On Thursday, the DME MACs issued an article on travel oxygen related to short-term travel (days or weeks) and temporary relocation, such as for snowbirds.

MARTINEZ, Ga. — Last week, the Committee to Save Independent HME Suppliers announced it has hired the Capitol Hill Consulting Group, a Washington, D.C., lobby firm. The focus of CSI:HME, the group said, is "to lobby Congress in support of legislation addressing the needs and goals of the thousands of independent small business providers across the nation."

DORAL, Fla. — Florida HME providers are breathing easier this week after managing to sidestep several state legislative measures that, if allowed to pass, would have burdened providers and created access problems for beneficiaries, according to the Florida Alliance of Home Care Services.

In a Thursday update, FAHCS said providers had been successful in:

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa. — Air Products announced last week the company has sold all of its U.S. home infusion therapy business and some elements of its respiratory and HME business to Walgreens subsidiary OptionCare Enterprises. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Last Monday, Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Pat Roberts, R-Kan., introduced a companion bill to the Preserve Patient Access to Reputable DMEPOS Providers Act of 2009 (S. 956). A House version of the bill (H.R. 1970) was introduced April 2. The legislation would exempt pharmacies from having to post a $50,000 DMEPOS surety bond.

According to CMS, effective June 1, DMEPOS suppliers submitting applications to Medicare must use the revised CMS-855S form or the application will be rejected. The revised form includes a 26th Supplier Standard: "All DMEPOS suppliers must obtain a surety bond in order to receive and retain a supplier billing number." The revised form also includes a section for reporting surety bond information. View the revised CMS-855S form.

On Wednesday, the Senate unanimously confirmed Bill Corr as deputy secretary of Health and Human Services. He fills the No. 2 spot at the department and will work with newly sworn-in HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius as the national debate on health reform heats up. Corr most recently served as executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and served as HHS chief of staff during the Clinton administration.

Pride Mobility Products Corp., Exeter, Pa., unveiled a new logo and tagline last week: Performance Mobility — Live Your Best. The new logo draws the correlation between Pride's performance-based products and the consumer's ability to lead an independent, active life, the company said. The logo and tagline will be used for all retail mobility and standard power products, which primarily target the geriatric market.

In a Wednesday press briefing, Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the role of health workers in helping spread the H1N1 flu is getting a look. "When you're thinking about risk, who comes in contact with the most individuals who are sick and have flu? Health care workers," Besser said. With the disease in the United States turning out to be mild, Besser said CDC teams are already going back in to study its spread.

CMS has scheduled its next May 13 at 2 p.m. ET. To participate by phone, call 800/837-1935 and reference Conference ID 94280596.

The Accredited Medical Equipment Providers of America and the newly formed Florida Alliance of Home Care Services have announced they will sponsor the Florida Home Care Conference on May 20 in Orlando.

CMS has issued an MLN Matters Article outlining HIPAA 5010 changes and how providers need to plan. According to the agency, "implementation will require changes to the software, systems and perhaps procedures that you use for billing Medicare and other payers. So it is extremely important that you are aware of these HIPAA changes and plan for their implementation." Read the overview in MLN Matters SE0904.