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.
HomeCare News
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.
TAMPA, Fla. — The owner of two South Florida DME companies was sentenced Jan. 16 to eight years in prison for using stolen patient data to submit $7 million in false Medicare claims. According to prosecutors, the prison term handed down to 47-year-old Remberto Sarmiento of Miami was enhanced after the court found at the sentencing hearing he lied to FBI agents by stating he knew nothing about the two companies, APR Medical Equipment and Super Medical Supply.
OXFORD, Mich. — Essentially Women's Focus on the Future 2009 conference and trade show will be held in Charleston, S.C., March 30-April 1. The ninth year for the conference, the buying group said its focus on business development will continue with 60 exhibits from manufacturers and distributors of women's health care products, three keynote sessions and a networking reception.
ATLANTA — Home medical equipment providers and other industry stakeholders vowed once again last week to muster forces to fight CMS' second attempt at DMEPOS competitive bidding.
And this time, they said, they feel like they have a lot more leverage, thanks to supporters in Congress and the ravages of a devastated economy.
ARLINGTON, Va. — Late Friday, the American Association for Homecare released details of a sweeping reform plan to make oxygen therapy "a more patient-centered benefit" under Medicare.
The plan would change the legal status of oxygen companies from "suppliers" to "providers" in recognition of the services provided to beneficiaries, remove oxygen from competitive bidding and eliminate the 36-month cap.
ATLANTA — In an effort to aid HME providers who must now secure surety bonds if they are to participate in Medicare, two major industry organizations announced last week that providers could work through them to obtain the bonds required by CMS.
BALTIMORE — In a transmittal issued on New Year's Eve, CMS said the National Supplier Clearinghouse Medicare Administrative Contractor will begin a "fraud potential analysis" of all DMEPOS applicants and current providers.
ATLANTA — CMS got an earful from home medical equipment providers, respiratory therapists, physicians, beneficiaries and a host of other entities that weighed in with comments about the agency's 2009 physician fee schedule final rule, which includes payment policies that apply to reimbursement after the 36-month oxygen cap.
ATLANTA — As the 36-month oxygen cap kicked in Jan. 1 and CMS' new post-cap payment rules took effect, beleaguered providers struggling to implement those rules said they still have unanswered questions about procedures, billing and the like. They also said they're not giving up on getting the cap repealed.
BALTIMORE — With 340 listeners on the call at a special Open Door Forum Thursday, CMS' Sandra Bastinelli, who has oversight of the agency's DMEPOS accreditation program:
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.