COLUMBIA, S.C.--Palmetto GBA will continue as Medicare's National Supplier Clearinghouse after CMS awarded the company another one-year contract--with four one-year options that, if exercised, would put the contract's value at $76 million.
HomeCare News
STILLWATER, Minn.--Last week, the National Supplier Clearinghouse Advisory Committee launched a Web site at www.nscac.org to offer HME providers additional resources for interacting with the NSC.
ELYRIA, Ohio--On Thursday, HME manufacturing giant Invacare reported results from a strong second quarter, ended June 30. Net earnings increased to $6.3 million or 20 cents a diluted share, from $0.1 million, or zero cents a diluted share, for the same period a year ago. Net sales rose 13.7 percent to $447.2 million versus $393.3 million last year.
WASHINGTON--On Thursday, Sens.
WASHINGTON--In a victory of landmark proportions for the home medical equipment industry and the people it serves, the two-week-old DMEPOS competitive bidding project came to a screeching halt last week. But as of Friday, providers in round one were still confused about exactly how to proceed.
ATLANTA--In an unexpected move last week, the four regional DME MACs issued a revised Local Coverage Determination for CPAP policy prohibiting HME providers from conducting home sleep tests.
According to the LCD, “No aspect of a HST including but not limited to delivery and/or pickup of the device, may be performed by a DME supplier. This prohibition does not extend to the results of studies conducted by hospitals certified to do such tests.”
BALTIMORE--CMS posted the following statement about the delay of competitive bidding on Wednesday:
BALTIMORE--The passage of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act has competitive bidding on hold, but CMS is reminding providers that the mandatory accreditation deadline of Sept. 30, 2009, still stands.
As a result of the competitive bidding delay, however, the accreditation deadlines associated with round two of the program--one that would have been effective today--have been cancelled. According to a notice issued Friday afternoon, CMS said:
ATLANTA--While the suspension of DMEPOS competitive bidding generated cheers that reverberated across the industry last week, it was a bittersweet result for the 325 round one suppliers who won contracts in the 10 competitive bidding areas.
WASHINGTON--In the latest twist in competitive bidding’s wild ride, President Bush vowed last week to veto H.R. 6331, the hard-won Medicare legislation that includes a delay of the problematic project.
But industry stakeholders were cautiously optimistic that the votes in both the House and Senate would stand in an override vote, which could come as early as Tuesday.
WASHINGTON--While the physician payment provisions of H.R. 6331 drove the bill through both houses of Congress, most HME stakeholders are fixed on the Medicare legislation's delay of competitive bidding.
ATLANTA--Even as HME advocates were celebrating the passage of H.R. 6331, the Medicare bill that includes a delay of national competitive bidding, HHS and CMS officials were taking their arguments for the bidding program to the public.
In a scathing op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal July 9--the same day the Senate voted on the bill--Michael O. Leavitt, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, painted a grim picture of the HME industry.
ATLANTA--Among the serious problems racked up in round one of competitive bidding, neither HHS nor CMS has publicly addressed evidence of possible bidding improprieties uncovered in the Riverside-San Bernardino CBA.
BALTIMORE--While HME advocates await action on H.R. 6331 to delay competitive bidding, the question on the lips of stakeholders throughout the industry has become: What are we supposed to do now?
Failure of Senate vote dashes hopes of stay before July 1; industry seeks administrative delay
WASHINGTON--Barring an 11th hour reprieve, national competitive bidding for Medicare DMEPOS will take effect tomorrow after the Senate, by a crushing single vote on Thursday, failed to act on its delay.
DALLAS--The industry’s hopes for a judicial delay of national competitive bidding dimmed on Thursday when a Dallas judge refused to grant a temporary restraining order stopping the troubled project, which is set to start tomorrow.
BALTIMORE--CMS will hold a July 2 telephone briefing on the implementation of competitive bidding.
The call will begin at 3 p.m. ET. The conference call-in number is 888/848-6501, and the passcode is DMEPOS.
BALTIMORE--When the inevitable question of whether or not competitive bidding would go forward was raised during a CMS Open Door Forum Wednesday, an agency official answered: “Nothing has been decided yet.”
Following a brief presentation that revealed little new information, CMS opened the phone lines for questions from the 376 listeners in attendance. Few were asked, but one hit home as the question of the day.
ATLANTA--Despite CMS' claims that sending competitive bidding information to Medicare beneficiaries “on or about June 20” would provide sufficient notice of the impending changes July 1, HME providers in the field have been besieged by calls from confused patients.
SAN DIEGO--On Thursday, SeQual Technologies announced the appointment of Ron Richard to the position of CEO effective July 1. He replaces Jim Bixby, who will continue as a member of the company's board of directors.