ATLANTA--While CMS is couching its revised DMEPOS supplier standards as enhanced tools for waging war on fraud and abuse, smaller providers see many of the changes as weapons of destruction aimed at eliminating them from the home medical equipment industry.
By creating five new standards and revising seven of the 21 existing standards that providers must meet to enroll with the National Supplier Clearinghouse, CMS is proposing, among other things, that:
"The new CMS supplier standards will have a significant impact on accreditation standards, as all accrediting organizations must incorporate them within their existing accreditation standards," said Tom Derrick, director, public relations, marketing and professional discipline, for the American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics & Pedorthics.
ELYRIA, Ohio--Despite the nature of the current market, both net earnings and sales were up for HME manufacturing giant Invacare, according to the company's posting of fourth-quarter figures on Wednesday.
Current policy requires a sleep test, or polysomnography, to be performed in a facility-based sleep lab, but the agency has recommended changes, which, among others, would allow the use of home sleep testing.
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--For years, home medical equipment providers have been asking for further guidance on what many have called vaguely written supplier standards with inconsistent interpretation among inspectors and lax oversight. On Friday morning they got a response from CMS--in spades plus some.
WASHINGTON--Hoping to countermand the numerous threats hovering on the home medical equipment horizon this year, four industry organizations are working together to get the message to Congress about the value of home care and the critical role HME plays.
WASHINGTON--On Tuesday, CMS held a congressional briefing on national competitive bidding. According to a report from the American Association for Homecare, senior CMS officials outlined the agency's work on the program and summarized efforts to expand bidding to another 70 areas. But they also "slammed the industry as a hotbed of fraud."
From AAHomecare's report:
TOPEKA, Kan.--Rather than trying to beat a "done deal," HME providers should instead focus their efforts on delaying round two of competitive bidding, staff members for Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., suggested during a meeting with members of the Midwest Association of Medical Equipment Dealers last week.
WASHINGTON--CMS is seeking input on a proposed rule that would allow Medicaid beneficiaries to take charge of their own personal assistance services.
If finalized, the rule would allow Medicaid beneficiaries needing help with activities of daily living to hire, direct, train or fire their own personal assistance care workers. Under the proposal, beneficiaries could even hire qualified family members to perform the caregiver tasks.
ATLANTA--In an interview last week, Invacare's Lou Slangen, senior vice president, global sales and marketing, said the manufacturer's decision to halt power wheelchair sales to The Scooter Store "to me is a defining moment in the complex rehab business in how we look at servicing that patient and beneficiary."
It looks like other industry groups might think so, too. NRRTS, NAIMES and VGM's US Rehab have lined up in support of the Elyria, Ohio-based company's decision.
ALBUQUERQUE--Lisa Thomas-Payne, a top HME reimbursement specialist who retired to race sports cars, died Jan. 10 of cancer at her home in Albuquerque. She was 46.
Although Thomas-Payne left the industry in 2000, she left it better than she found it, longtime industry stakeholders said. Through her consulting business, Medical Reimbursement Systems, she challenged, cajoled and coaxed providers to do better, to submit clean claims, to be knowledgeable about billing.
ATLANTA--Poised for months to hear the details about Round Two of national competitive bidding, home medical equipment providers were knocked off their pins last week when CMS' long-awaited announcement appeared to spin the project as an anti-fraud initiative.
ATLANTA--Mandatory accreditation and Round Two of competitive bidding have been on the industry's radar for months, but the whirlwind of recent CMS announcements detailing dates and deadlines nevertheless stirred stakeholder reaction.
BALTIMORE--Not using your National Provider Identification number? Then you will likely start seeing rejection of claims as early as this week, CMS officials said Wednesday during a CMS Open Door conference call.
LOS ANGELES — In a press conference held earlier today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the expansion of Medicare's DMEPOS national competitive bidding program.
ATLANTA--An unknown number of home medical equipment providers got an unwelcome New Year surprise: letters from Competitive Bidding Implementation Contractor Palmetto GBA questioning their bids and seeking further documentation.
Providers were given until today to respond to the inquiries or face disqualification of their bids.
ATLANTA--After announcing Sept. 30, 2009, as the deadline by which all DMEPOS providers must be accredited, CMS officials at an Open Door Forum Dec. 19 refused to give out information on additional dates. But the accreditation deadlines for new suppliers were revealed just two days later in a list serv for pharmacists--and the dates are raising questions.
REDDING, Calif.--A federal appeals court has overturned a lower court's ruling that held a certificate of medical necessity was sufficient for Medicare to pay a claim for a power wheelchair, but the plaintiff in the case says he'll appeal the new ruling all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
CLEVELAND--As the clock ticks steadily toward the July 1 implementation date for national competitive bidding, industry stakeholders are making yet another bid to stop the project by filing a lawsuit on behalf of a small Ohio home medical equipment provider.
