COLUMBUS, Ohio--The Ohio Association of Medical Equipment Services has presented Invacare Chairman and CEO Mal Mixon with its first lifetime achievement award.
Given at its November annual meeting, the award was created "to thank an individual whose contribution to home health care is arguably unsurpassed by anyone working in the field today," according to the association.
ELYRIA, Ohio--Invacare will be absent from both Medtrade shows next year, instead switching its focus to specialized trade shows and "more customer-oriented training activities," the company said last week.
WASHINGTON--Opposition to a recent Office of Inspector General report comparing Internet prices for power wheelchairs with Medicare reimbursements of the equipment continues to grow.
ATLANTA--Though beset with challenges like the 36-month rental cap for home oxygen, respiratory providers should see a solid 2008 with significant opportunities, according to one industry expert.
COLUMBIA, S.C.--HME providers in Jurisdictions A and B have been slammed with claim denials in a number of areas this year, according to the results of several pre-payment reviews released by TriCenturion, the regions' DME PSC.
Most of the denials, according to the results, were due to inadequate, incomplete or improper documentation.
TAMPA, Fla.--Four family members who owned a series of Miami DME companies and outpatient rehab facilities have each been sentenced to 57 months in prison for Medicare fraud, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta of the Southern District of Florida announced Nov. 9.
WASHINGTON--According to a Government Accountability Office report released Wednesday, more than 30,000 Medicaid providers over seven states owe the federal government more than $1 billion in taxes for 2006.
WASHINGTON--Despite progress in several key indicators, the overall health of the nation declined over the past year, according to a report from the United Health Foundation, the American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention.
LUBBOCK, TX--On Friday, The MED Group announced that Don Clayback, who had been serving as senior vice president of networks, including direct management of MED's National Rehab Network, has been appointed vice president of government relations to focus full-time on lobbying and industry support initiatives.
WASHINGTON--According to the American Association for Homecare, an influential congressman lent credibility on Friday "to the inaccurate and misleading government study" that suggests Internet prices available to consumers should be the basis for Medicare reimbursement of power wheelchairs.
WASHINGTON--Noting that the threat still looms and is very real, various industry groups urged providers last week to help battle further home oxygen and power wheelchair reimbursement cuts by lobbying their senators and representatives.
WASHINGTON--Blaming limited resources, a CMS official admitted on a National Public Radio piece airing last week that the agency has not been on the lookout for fraud--for years.
"In the past, perhaps we have not been as vigilant as we could have been," Kimberly Brandt, head of program integrity for Medicare, told NPR reporter Greg Allen.
WASHINGTON--Trade organizations representing chain drug stores and community pharmacists have brought suit against CMS to block more than $8 billion in Medicaid drug reimbursement cuts scheduled over the next five years.
PHOENIX--After confessing to more than $1 million in bank fraud and forgery charges, a former special agent with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General now faces up to 35 years in prison and more than $1.2 million in fines.
HALIFAX, Va.--The National Association of Independent Medical Equipment Suppliers, launched in April as a grassroots advocacy and support organization, announced its initial board of directors on Wednesday.
H. Wayne Sale, RCP, president of Health First in Richmond, Va., will serve as board chairman. Others on the nine-member board include:
WASHINGTON--While CMS' Laurence Wilson presented the agency's view of competitive bidding, a string of HME stakeholders told an entirely different story to members of a House of Representatives subcommittee last week.
WASHINGTON--Medicare could save millions on power wheelchairs if the government reimbursed them at the rates available to consumers on the Internet, according to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.
WATERLOO, Iowa--To draw attention to the home oxygen bills in Congress, VGM Group will sponsor Enough is Enough: Shut Down the Switchboard Day on Nov. 14.
The goal is to get 50,000 people to call the U.S. Capitol switchboard on that day to urge members of Congress to cosponsor the Tanner-Hobson bill and the Home Oxygen Patient Protection Act.
BALTIMORE--CMS said it had instructed the National Supplier Clearinghouse to begin its anti-fraud demonstration project on Nov. 1.
Announced in July, the demonstration will involve all South Florida DMEPOS suppliers in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, and Southern California suppliers in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. (See HomeCare Monday, July 9.)
