AAHomecare

ATLANTA (October 24, 2017)—American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) team members expressed empathy and optimism on day two of Medtrade at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

“When I see people going out of business after 30 years, 20 years—second and third generation—it gets to me,” said Tom Ryan, president and CEO, AAHomecare, during the organization’s Washington Update on Tuesday morning. “It gets to our team. That’s why we fight every day.”

ATLANTA (October 20, 2017)—The rumor is true. Show organizers are concluding this year’s Medtrade with a $5,000 cash giveaway. Qualifying to receive the prize is fairly easy.

To enter the cash giveaway drawing, attendees will receive cash giveaway cards at registration, along with their badges. Attendees must take their cards to the booths of 10 sponsors and get the cards stamped at each sponsor’s booth. The list of sponsors will be shown on the cards.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 12, 2017)—Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) has been working on legislation to provide relief for non-CB areas and address the “double-dip” cuts on oxygen; you can see a draft of the legislation here.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 11, 2017)—Industry advocate and leader Gary Sheehan, president and CEO of Massachusetts-based Cape Medical Supply, will be honored as the recipient of the 2017 Van Miller Homecare Champion Award at the upcoming Stand Up for Homecare reception on October 24, in Atlanta.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 11, 2017)—For the third quarter of 2017, the average processing time for the third level of Medicare appeals is 1,082 days, or almost 3 years. This is a 41-day increase in the wait time at the Administrative Law Judge level (ALJ) since earlier this year and a 205-day increase from last year. In addition, as of July of this year, the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA) has published that the overturn rate of appeals at the ALJ is 28.3 percent.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 10, 2017)—Health care research firm Dobson DaVanzo & Associates has finalized and released the report Access to Home Medical Equipment: Survey of Beneficiary, Case Manager and Supplier Experiences.


Washington, D.C. (October 2, 2017)—Nearly one-fourth of the members of the U.S. House of Representatives have asked the Office of Management & Budget (OMB) to clear an HME-related Interim Final Rule (IFR) currently under review at OMB. The IFR, titled “Durable Medical Equipment Fee Schedule, Adjustments to Resume the Transitional 50/50 Blended Rates to Provide Relief in Non-Competitive Bidding Areas” has been at OMB since late August.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

—Via AAHomecare, Washington, D.C. (September 19, 2017)—Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-Wash) released a Congressional sign-on letter to Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), asking him to clear an HME-related Interim Final Rule (IFR) currently under review at OMB.

—Via AAHomecare, WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 18, 2017)—AAHomecare continues to work with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to find immediate solutions for HME providers serving patients in areas affected by Hurricane Irma. In a conversation with CMS today, the agency offered further resources and contact information for providers facing challenges caring for patients.


—Via AAHomecare, WASHINGTON, D.C.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 12, 2017)—Representatives Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) and John Larson (D-Conn) introduced legislation on Monday to exempt accessories for manual CRT wheelchairs from bidding-derived pricing with a strong, bipartisan roster of 42 original co-sponsors (23 Democrats, 19 Republicans). HR 3730 would complement earlier CMS action exempting accessories for group 3 power wheelchairs from bidding-derived pricing.

—Via AAHomecare, WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 7, 2017)—CMS and AAHomcare are both dedicated to instituting policies that protect beneficiary and supplier communities that have been affected by Hurricane Harvey. Last week, AAHomecare and several members of the Regulatory Council met with CMS regarding emergency and disaster related policies and procedures.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 7, 2017)—Last Friday, AAHomecare chairman Steve Ackerman joined Tom Ryan, Jay Witter and Kim Brummett to present updated findings from our Patient Access Survey to CMS officials. Staff from our survey partner Dobson DaVanzo and counsel Foley & Hoag were also in attendance.

Via AAHomecare, WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 30, 2017)—As the nation rallies around those impacted by Hurricane Harvey’s destruction, we wanted to share some encouraging stories about our members who are rising to meet the needs of their community and beyond. In the midst of tragedy, their response speaks volumes about the services and front-line patient care that our Industry offers, in good weather and bad.

—Via AAHomecare, WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 30, 2017)—On account of requests from several providers to extend the deadline to enter 2nd Quarter 2017 HME Audit Key data, the survey will remain open until Monday, Sept. 11.

—Via AAHomecare, WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 24, 2017)—While response totals for all three categories in the survey on patient access to HME have significantly surpassed our original targets, the survey remains open for additional participation from HME patients, case managers/discharge planners, as well as providers.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 23, 2017)—Nominate a colleague to be honored as the 2017 Van Miller Homecare Champion. The award recognizes an AAHomecare member who has made an exceptional contribution to the homecare sector throughout their career in one or more of the following ways:

—Via AAHomecare—WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 16, 2017)—Last year, CMS finalized the rule to move forward with expanding the prior authorization (PA) program. Although the program has great support from the industry, AAHomecare expressed concern with the lack of physician involvement in the correspondence of the PA decision. Unlike the PMD Demonstration, under the PA expansion, DME MACs cannot automatically communicate with referring physicians on the PA decision.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 16, 2017)—Last month, CMS published the annual Medicare Fee-For-Service Improper Payments Report. CMS reports that for dates of service between July 2014–June 2015, the error rate for DMEPOS was 46 percent, which is an increase of 7 percent from the previous year. For the report, 10,999 DMEPOS claims were reviewed. However, CMS states that the majority of this rate is attributed to insufficient documentation and not due to medical necessity.

—Via AAHomecare—WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 15, 2017)—On account of requests from several providers to extend the deadline to enter 2nd Quarter 2017 HME Audit Key data, the survey will remain open until Friday, August 25.