AAHomecare

LAS VEGAS (February 28, 2017)—Speakers at the American Association for Homecare’s Legislative Update characterized 2017 as a “year of opportunity” on day two of Medtrade Spring. “We believe we can work in the regulatory environment,” said Tom Ryan, president and CEO, AAHomecare, “and not have to continue to go to the Hill for legislation.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 22, 2017)—AAHomecare recently evaluated the language of the CURES Bill and how it pertains to the TRICARE network. As previously reported, AAHomecare received an attorney opinion that the language inside of the CURES Bill should relate to the TRICARE network as well.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 22, 2017)—Last June, The New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH) announced an “Incontinence Supply Management Program” for all Medicaid beneficiaries that would implement minimum quality standards for incontinence products to take effect on September 1, 2016. In addition to the quality standards, NY DOH also awarded a preferred vendor contract to TwinMed, LLC for incontinence products to be purchased by Medicaid providers.

LENEXA, Kan. (February 22, 2017)—Mediware Information Systems, Inc., a provider of comprehensive post-acute health care software, announces that the latest CareTend features and functionality will be showcased at this year’s Medtrade Spring conference, held February 28–March 1 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 10, 2017)—Early Friday morning, the Senate confirmed Dr. Tom Price to serve as Secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) by a vote of 52-47.

Statement of Tom Ryan, president and CEO of the American Association for Homecare:

WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 9, 2017)—The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) today released a briefing paper designed to assist home medical equipment leaders nationwide in their efforts to engage state Medicaid directors on future Medicaid rate-setting deliberations involving home medical equipment.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 1, 2017)—The Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday voted to send Rep. Tom Price’s (R-Ga.) nomination to head the Department of Health and Human Services to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 31, 2017)—CMS today announced plans to consolidate all rounds and areas included in the competitive bidding program for DME into a single round of competition to be known as Round 2019. The Round 1 2017, Round 2 Recompete, and National Mail-Order Recompete contract periods for all product categories will all continue through December 31, 2018. Round 2019 contracts will take effect on January 1, 2019, and run through Dec. 31, 2021.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 30, 2017)—The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) is calling on the contractors administering TRICARE military health plans nationwide to reprocess claims for home medical equipment for the last six months of 2016 on account of provisions in recent health care legislation affecting Medicare reimbursement rates.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 27, 2017)—The HME Audit Key is a free web-based survey the American Association for Homecare developed in response to a lack of data and information provided by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on the impact the audit programs are having on HME Suppliers.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 18, 2017)—CMS published guidance to the states on Friday, January 13, in an effort to give strategies to the state to ensure access to DMEPOS is available. This was issued due to comments from 2016 on CMS 1651-P and 2011 comments submitted in response to Federal Register Request for Comment on alignment under Medicaid and Medicare. While CMS cannot enforce these suggestions, we believe that they would benefit both states and providers.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 11, 2017)—AAHomecare’s State Leaders Council, comprised of state association leadership from across the country, formed a Work Group to collaboratively develop strategies and coordinate resources for tackling the provision in recent CURES legislation that limits the federal portion of Medicaid spending to competitive bidding prices for DMEPOS starting in 2018.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 5, 2017)—As home medical equipment providers and manufacturers seek better ways to improve patient outcomes, they are frustrated by reimbursement methodologies that lag behind innovations in products and services.

Via AAHomecare—WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 7, 2016)—This afternoon, the Senate passed H.R. 34, the 21st Century Cures Act (CURES) by a 94–5 margin. The bill's HME-related provisions remain unchanged from our summary last week; the bill's positive measures, its effect on future Medicaid reimbursement rates, and the road ahead are discussed in the President's Message that follows below.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 29, 2016)—President-elect Donald Trump announced today that he will appoint Congressman Tom Price (R-Ga.) to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services in his Administration.

Update: On Wedneday, November 30, 2016, the House passed the measure with sweeping bipartisan support.

ARLINGTON, Va. (November 10, 2016)—AAHomecare will be moving from our current location on L Street in Washington, D.C. to 241 18th Street South, Suite 500, Arlington, VA 22202. This move will allow the Association to allocate more of your membership dues on programs and efforts, which will benefit you.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 31, 2016)—CMS issued a final rule last week, covering end-stage renal care and changes to the DME competitive bidding program. Provisions of interest to the home medical equipment community include:

Bid Ceilings—Bid ceilings for future rounds will be based on the 2015 fee unadjusted fee schedule, instead of CMS's earlier proposal to establish bid ceilings at the current CBA pricing.

—Via AAHomecare WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 25, 2016)—Please join the data-driven campaign to fix Medicare audits—submit your Third Quarter 2016 Medicare audit activity information to AAHomecare's HME Audit Key Survey.

ATLANTA (October 20, 2016)—It’s less than two weeks until the nation’s premiere HME event kicks off at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. Hundreds of exhibitors and industry experts are making their plans, and there is still time to register and save money over day-of-the-show rates.

WASHINGTON, D.C (October 19, 2016)—A study released today by the American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) shows that Medicare reimbursement rates for home medical equipment cover just 88 percent of overall costs for companies providing this service.