WASHINGTON--For the third year in a row, its trustees are warning that, unless Medicare makes some major changes, the program's Part A hospital fund will soon be singing its swan song.
HomeCare News
ATLANTA--The fees are in, but the jury's still out when it comes to the impact competitive bidding will have on the home medical equipment market, according to industry stakeholders who got their first look last week at Medicare's reimbursement rates for round one of the program.
ATLANTA--For City Medical Services General Manager Rob Brant, the postal delivery from CMS might as well have contained an atom bomb.
It didn't--but the message was explosive, just the same: “Unfortunately, we are unable to accept your bid as indicated in the enclosed chart.”
MECHANICSBURG, Pa.--In a notice sent Friday following CMS' announcement of round one bid pricing, the Pennsylvania Association of Medical Suppliers warned bid winners to “proceed with caution” before accepting a contract.
MELBOURNE, Fla.--Industry consultant Wallace Weeks of Weeks Group has estimated the implementation of competitive bidding will cost the HME sector a total of 14,575 jobs.
ATLANTA--Accrediting organizations are temporarily changing some procedures, ramping up training workshops and posting volumes of information on their Web sites in an attempt to help HME providers meet an Oct. 31 accreditation deadline for for round two of competitive bidding.
ATLANTA- -The 130-mile-per-hour winds from a tornado that ripped across downtown Atlanta earlier this month caused millions in damage, shattering skyscraper windows and leaving gaping holes in the Georgia Dome and the World Congress Center, the site of Medtrade 2008.
By all accounts, the effects of CMS' proposed revision and expansion of supplier standards for DMEPOS will be far-reaching. In a special series for HomeCare Monday, health care attorney Neil B. Caesar, president of the Health Law Center, Greenville, S.C., will help provide clarification and insight on several provisions of the draft rule. This week, Caesar's comments are directed to proposed new Standards 27, 31 and 57.
BALTIMORE--In a short notice issued Friday afternoon, CMS released accreditation deadlines for suppliers who want to take part in round two of competitive bidding.
In order to participate in round two, suppliers must meet quality standards and be accredited by a CMS-approved deemed accreditation organization, the notice said. Those suppliers should take note of two key deadlines, according to the notice:
BALTIMORE--As expected for months, on Thursday, CMS issued its final decision memo on home sleep testing.
The agency’s reconsideration of the national coverage determination for CPAP therapy now allows for home testing for obstructive sleep apnea with type II, III and IV devices (those measuring at least three channels), as well as for polysomnography in a sleep lab.
But the new NCD also initially limits coverage of CPAP to a 12-week period for beneficiaries.
WASHINGTON--With the July 1 implementation of competitive bidding closing in daily, industry stakeholders spent last week urging federal legislators to consider the impact of the program on small business.
Attendees at American Association for Homecare's Legislative Conference March 4-6 followed up congressional visits, pressing senators and representatives to sign on to letters to CMS expressing concern about what will happen to small providers under the bidding program.
ATLANTA--With just over a week left before the comment period ends March 25, some of HME's main movers and shakers are still grappling with the potential effects of CMS' proposed revision to Supplier Standard No. 1.
By all accounts, the effects of CMS' proposed revision and expansion of supplier standards for DMEPOS would be far-reaching. In a special series for HomeCare Monday leading up to the March 25 deadline for comments, health care attorney Neil B. Caesar, president of the Health Law Center, Greenville, S.C., will help provide clarification and insight on several provisions of the draft rule. This week, Caesar's comments center on proposed changes to Supplier Standards No. 10 and No.
WASHINGTON — As HME advocates gathered in the nation's capital last week to push for a delay of competitive bidding, a CMS official said the agency plans to move forward with the first two rounds of the program as scheduled.
WASHINGTON--Once again, stories of DME fraud and abuse showed up in headline news last week following the release of a report by the HHS Office of Inspector General, which found that, in Los Angeles County alone, 115 of 905 suppliers (13 percent) did not maintain physical facilities or were not open during unannounced site visits.
By all accounts, the effects of CMS' proposed revision and expansion of supplier standards for DMEPOS will be far-reaching. In a special series for HomeCare Monday leading up to the March 25 deadline for comments, health care attorney Neil B. Caesar, president of the Health Law Center, Greenville, S.C., will help provide clarification and insight on several provisions of the draft rule.
WASHINGTON--U.S. spending on health care is expected to double by 2017, reaching $4.3 trillion and accounting for nearly 20 percent--$1 for every $5 spent--of the gross domestic product, according to a CMS forecast published in the journal Health Affairs.
WASHINGTON — In a spectacularly timed twist of luck, the home medical equipment industry got a tremendous boost in its battle against competitive bidding last week when a new study surfaced that takes deadly aim at the process.
WASHINGTON--In a race against time, key industry stakeholders are seeking to salvage the best of the Tanner-Hobson bill, which sought to lessen the effects of competitive bidding, and fashion it into legislation that would have a strong chance of passing this year.
HALIFAX, Va.--In just two days last week, more than 1,000 HME providers and beneficiaries signed an online petition to stop competitive bidding, said Wayne Stanfield, president and CEO of the National Association of Independent Medical Equipment Suppliers.
The petition notes that if competitive bidding is implemented, "many suppliers will be eliminated from participating in Medicare, threatening the viability of their business and eliminating jobs."