A new study has found that moderate obesity, which is now common, reduces life expectancy by about three years, and that severe obesity can shorten a person’s life by 10 years. The study, published online in the journal The Lancet, followed nearly 900,000 men and women from around the world for an average of 10 to 15 years. Recruited from North America and Western Europe, most people were age 46 when the study started.
HomeCare News
WASHINGTON — Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is asking YouTube users for input on the health care reform debate. Grassley is this week's featured senator on YouTube's program that promotes interaction between members of Congress and the constituents they represent.
As the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees Medicare, Grassley will play a major role in shaping health reform legislation.
DORAL, Fla. — Sunshine State members of the Accredited Medical Equipment Providers of America have banded together to form a new state association, the Florida Alliance of Home Care Services, the group announced Wednesday.
ATLANTA — The home health sector got a chance to make its voice heard last week when President Barack Obama's administration held its first regional health care summit in Detroit in an effort to fast-track health care reform.
WASHINGTON — HME advocates got a boost last week when Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., sent a letter asking HHS to rescind the competitive bidding interim final rule. But the battle over the DMEPOS bid could be tough as the Senate Finance Committee's Health Subcommittee plans a hearing on the program.
LAS VEGAS — If there's an early buzzword for Medtrade Spring 2009, it is "networking."
Trying to find their footing on the rocky road that is the home medical equipment industry these days, HME providers told HomeCare Monday they are looking to the conference and exposition for ideas, connections and information.
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens subsidiary OptionCare Enterprises announced last month it has acquired Tampa, Fla.-based home care provider CareMax Medical Resources, which offers home infusion, respiratory and DME in seven communities in Colorado, Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — American HomePatient posted financial results March 5 for the fourth quarter and year ended Dec. 31, 2008. Revenues for the fourth quarter were $67.8 million compared to $71.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2007, a decrease of 5.2 percent. Revenues for 2008 were $266.9 million compared to $293 million for 2007, an 8.9 percent decrease.
OLD FORGE, Pa. — A lift and recline chair and an adjustable bed from Golden Technologies will be featured in the latest home building project on ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." The episode of the hit TV show, set to air May 3, features U.S. Army Veteran Jeff Cooper of Jamesville, N.C.
NEW YORK and COMMERCE TOWNSHIP, Mich. — The Sharper Image has signed a $540 million, five-year licensing agreement with personal health and wellness product-maker HoMedics.
HME providers aren't the only ones worried about CMS' new Recovery Audit Contractors. At a meeting March 9, members of the Practicing Physicians Advisory Council ticked off a number of concerns about the new RACs — most notably that the contractors are paid a contingency fee to identify improper payments. In addition, according to the docs, just getting medical records to the RACs will be a burden.
On Thursday, CMS Acting Administrator Charlene Frizzera announced some personnel changes "that will position the agency to successfully implement the important initiatives and priorities outlined over the past few months by the president," she said in a memo. Among the changes:
CMS has scheduled a special Open Door Forum on Tuesday, March 17 (tomorrow) at 2 pm ET to address its new $50,000 surety bond requirement for DMEPOS providers. According to the Open Door notice, CMS staff will discuss key provisions of the final rule, including exemptions, implementation dates, the definition of a final adverse action and elevated surety bond amounts.
Noridian Administrative Services, the Jurisdiction D DME MAC, has scheduled an Ask the Contractor Teleconference for Tuesday, March 17 (tomorrow), at 3 pm CT. To participate, call 800/398-9389.
National Government Services announced Friday that Jurisdiction B Medical Review will begin a widespread prepayment review of negative pressure wound therapy pumps following a postpay probe last year that showed a 40 percent claim error rate. For more on the issue, click here.
The Pennsylvania Association of Medical Suppliers is planning an "HME Survival Summit" in Pittsburgh April 6.
On a Capitol Hill lobby day March 5, some 320 Medicare patients and other supporters of the National Home Infusion Association urged Congress to act on the Medicare Home Infusion Therapy Coverage Act. Reintroduced earlier this year in the Senate (S. 254) and the House (H.R.
Fourteen communities nationwide are participating in a pilot project that aims to reduce Medicare costs by preventing frequent hospital readmissions for chronically ill beneficiaries.
Upcoding — overstating the severity of a beneficiary's condition — along with kickbacks, billing for services not rendered and other fraud and abuse contributed to a 44 percent increase in Medicare spending on home health care services from 2002-2006, according to a Government Accountability Office report.