WASHINGTON--Congress is racing against the clock to craft legislation that would stop a cut in Medicare physician reimbursement, which, like national competitive bidding, is set to take effect July 1. According to HME insiders, the industry’s best chance to derail NCB lies in attaching delay language to that legislation--commonly known as the “doc fix”--and its fate is changing by the day as only Washington politics can.
HomeCare News
LAKE FOREST, Calif.--Apria Healthcare Group, one of the nation's largest HME providers, said Thursday it would be acquired by an affiliate of private equity company The Blackstone Group in a merger transaction valued at $1.6 billion.
For each share of common stock they hold, Apria shareholders will receive $21 in cash, a premium of 33 percent over the $15.89 share price on Wednesday and 29 percent over the stock's average closing price for the previous 30 trading days.
BALTIMORE--Even as the industry fights down to the wire to delay competitive bidding, CMS wants to know: Are you ready?
In a list-serv message sent Wednesday, CMS said, “The Medicare DMEPOS competitive bidding program begins July 1--just two weeks away--Are you prepared?”
BALTIMORE--In a Change Request sent to the DME MACs on Friday, CMS established a number of denial reason codes to be used when processing claims under national competitive bidding.
Among the new denial codes:
WASHINGTON--CMS may be held accountable for what 18 providers in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale CBA are calling “wrongful disqualification” from the competitive bidding process pending a lawsuit alleging the government's actions were “arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion.”
BALTIMORE--Despite a last-minute push on Capitol Hill for a
delay of competitive bidding, CMS is moving forward with its
implementation, government officials said last week.
Speaking at a June 16 meeting of the Program Advisory and Oversight
Committee, CMS Deputy Administrator Herb Kuhn acknowledged H.R.
6252, legislation calling for delay of the bidding program.
WASHINGTON--Operating under authority from the Public Health Service Act, HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt has declared a public health emergency in the flood-stricken states of Iowa and Indiana. The action gives CMS greater flexibility in meeting emergency health needs, according to HHS.
WASHINGTON--Last week, former U.S. Congressman Tony Coelho--primary author of the Americans with Disabilities Act--along with U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Executive Vice President Nancy Zirkin and autism advocate Ari Ne'eman, announced formation of the Employer & Disability Alliance to promote the ADA Amendments Act. The broad alliance includes some of the nation's largest employer groups and disability advocates.
WASHINGTON — In an enormous leap forward in the home medical equipment industry's intense efforts to halt DMEPOS competitive bidding, Reps. Fortney "Pete" Stark, D-Calif., and David Camp, R-Mich., introduced bipartisan legislation Thursday calling for an 18-month delay in implementation of the troubled program.
WASHINGTON--While a bill introduced Thursday in the House of Representatives calls for a moratorium on the implementation of the competitive bidding program, it would also make improvements to the bidding process and establish quality measures along with other improvements, according to Cara Bachenheimer, senior vice president of government relations for Invacare, Elyria, Ohio.
ARLINGTON, Va.--In a special update sent to members on Friday, American Association for Homecare Chairman Alan Landauer and President Tyler Wilson explained provisions of H.R. 6252, legislation introduced last week to delay competitive bidding--and the industry's work in bringing it about.
According to the message:
WASHINGTON — In the latest legal maneuver to block implementation of competitive bidding, last week the American Association for Homecare filed a federal lawsuit seeking an injunction against the controversial project.
The suit, filed by D.C. law firm Sidley Austin June 9 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, joins three others seeking to delay the bidding program.
BALTIMORE--In an update posted to the CBIC Web site, CMS said the negative pressure wound therapy product category will not be included in round one for both the Kansas City and San Juan, Puerto Rico, competitive bidding areas because "an insufficient number of contracts were accepted to ensure viable coverage of this product category."
BALTIMORE--In a press briefing last week, acting CMS Administrator Kerry Weems used high gloss to paint the picture of DMEPOS competitive bidding, and, aside from a few queries concerning timing and grandfathering, most of the consumer media had no questions about problems that might surface come July 1. In his opening remarks, Weems told reporters that competitive bidding will make changes that, CMS contends, are long overdue.
BALTIMORE--What was billed as CMS' third provider training call on competitive bidding erupted into a veritable war of words Thursday during a question-and-answer session with listeners.
Dedicated solely to the implementation of round one and aimed at referral sources and non-contract suppliers, the call began with pertinent updates, including:
WATERLOO, Iowa--Many of its expected 1,000 attendees were forced to evacuate VGM's Heartland Conference last week as floodwaters threatened downtown Waterloo, the member services group's hometown.
WASHINGTON--Late Friday, Montana Democrat Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, filed a Medicare bill with a “doc fix” provision that would stop a 10 percent pay cut for physicians currently set to take effect July 1. But the bill also contains reduced payments for standard power wheelchairs and home oxygen.
WASHINGTON--The fierce battle to halt implementation of competitive bidding program heated up on Friday when two senators circulated a letter to their colleagues pressing for a delay “until outstanding issues can be resolved.”
BALTIMORE--With only three weeks until the implementation of round one July 1, CMS said Friday it will announce an outreach effort on competitive bidding aimed at beneficiaries.
ATLANTA--With only days left before the implementation of competitive bidding in 10 of the country's largest metropolitan areas, last week some HME providers said they were stumped about ZIP codes--but not about those in round two, the ZIP codes in round one.
Not knowing the ZIP codes that will define the next 70 competitive bidding areas has been one of the industry's main questions since the round two MSAs were announced Jan. 8.