WATERLOO, Iowa (May 22, 2017)—If a picture is worth a thousand words, imagine the power of a video. For years, clinicians and case managers have struggled to coordinate care for their Medicare patients who require home medical equipment, services, and supplies under the Competitive Bidding Program (CBP). Meanwhile, CMS reports that there are no issues with CBP and that access has been unaffected.
Via AAHomecare—WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 17, 2017)—We have just received confirmation that Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) has formally introduced legislation that would require prior authorization for certain home medical equipment items in higher price ranges. The formal title for HR 2445 will be the DMEPOS Access and Transparency Act of 2017, and may also be referred to as the DATA Act of 2017.
—Via AAHomecare, WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 10, 2017)—AAHomecare continues to press the case for longer-term relief for rural and non-bid area providers, as well as for significant structural improvements to the Competitive Bidding Program with Federal regulators.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 4, 2017)—AAHomecare is pleased to announce George Kucka will be the recipient of this year’s AAHomecare/Mal Mixon Legislative Advocate Award at the upcoming Legislative Conference May 24–25, 2017 in Washington, D.C.
—Via AAHomecare WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 2, 2017)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has updated the fee schedule for rural and non-bid areas to adjust reimbursements to rural providers for products and services furnished between the July 1–December 31 period.
—Via AAHomecare WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 27, 2017)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced significant changes to improve the processing and adjudication of recurring/serial claims for capped rental items and certain inexpensive and routinely-purchased items.
—Via AAHomecare, WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 26, 2017)—According to research AAHomecare had been performing using Medicare data, the number of traditional suppliers of home medical equipment to Medicare beneficiaries has dropped 40.9 percent since July 2013. In addition, the number of unique locations (commonly referred to as rooftops) serving Medicare beneficiaries has declined by 38.7 percent during the same period.
—via AAHomecare WASHINGTON, D.C.
—Via AAHomecare WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 5, 2017)—On Tuesday afternoon, AAHomecare president Tom Ryan, Jay Witter, AAHomecare senior vice president of public affairs, Cara Bachenheimer, senior vice president of government relations with Invacare, and Thomas Barker, an attorney recently engaged by the Association, met with CMS Administrator Seema Verma and Deputy Administrator Demetrios Kouzoukas, as well as several other HHS and CMS staffers.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 27, 2017)—Each year the HME community comes together in Washington, D.C. to advocate and strengthen relationships in Congress. It is a critical gathering, made stronger by greater numbers of participants demonstrating how important our relatively small share of the Medicare budget is to the entire health care continuum.
—via AAHomecare (March 23, 2017)—Earlier today AAHomecare shared HME industry recommendations for fixing significant problems with CMS’s DMEPOS competitive bidding program with HHS Secretary Tom Price. The recommendations focus on six major areas:
—via AAHomecare, WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 22, 2017)—As first reported in late January, CMS included bundling CPAP devices, related accessories, and services on a monthly basis for Round 2019 of competitive bidding for HME, starting with five new CBAs specific to CPAP products only.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 9, 2017)—Legislation to prevent the application of bidding-derived pricing for CRT accessories was introduced in the Senate and House last week. The Senate bill, S. 486, introduced by lead sponsors Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and its House companion, H.R. 1361, introduced by Reps. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) and John Larson (D-Conn.) both show strong bipartisan support from initial co-sponsors.
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.
