WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 24, 2016)—Yesterday, AAHomecare submitted comments on CMS-1651-P, a rule from CMS that proposes to make some adjustments to the Competitive Bidding Program. CMS proposed to make several positive changes, such as increasing the bid ceiling to the 2015 unadjusted fee schedule and expanding the appeals process for breach of contract actions.
AAHomecare
WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 18, 2016)—Do you know a champion for the HME profession? The AAHomecare is now accepting nominations for an AAHomecare member who has made an exceptional contribution to the homecare sector throughout their career. Attributes that will be recognized include:
WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 18, 2016)—Laura Williard, AAHomecare’s senior director of payer relations, met with representatives of Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield and the AIM Sleep Management program to establish a relationship and open a dialogue to represent HME provider interests.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 26, 2016)—The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) has launched a new initiative to survey medical professionals and other individuals in the caregiving continuum to measure the impact of recent Medicare reimbursement cuts on seniors, as well as people with disabilities and chronic conditions.
Responding to Reimbursement Cuts: Billing Non-Assigned and Other Options (An AAHomecare webinar)
Presented by: Jeff Baird, Brown & Fortunato
Wednesday, July 27, 2:30-4 p.m. EST
We now know what Medicare reimbursement is…and it is not pretty. The bottom line is that Medicare will pay as little as possible for DME. And yet, with 78 million baby boomers retiring at the rate of 10,000 per day, the demand for DME will dramatically increase.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 14, 2016)—Last year, AAHomecare began meeting with CMS’s CERT contractor oversight team to discuss efforts to lower the DMEPOS industry’s CERT error rate. In 2010, the DMEPOS CERT error rate was at an all-time high of 73.8 percent. As of 2015, the error rate has decreased to 39.9 percent. In an effort to better understand the driving force of the error rate, AAHomecare submitted a FOIA request for detailed data on the denial reasons.
PADME Act Stalled in Senate July 15, 2016. Read the update here.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 7, 2016)—The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) has commissioned Dobson DaVanzo & Associates, LLC to conduct a full study of suppliers’ fixed and variable costs for furnishing the services associated with supplying durable medical equipment. While limited cost study analyses have been performed in the past, this will be the first to consider DME in multiple categories that are under threat by competitive bidding pricing.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 6, 2016)—The American Association for Homecare praised legislation to delay a new round of Medicare reimbursement cuts for rural and non-bid area home medical equipment providers that passed the House today. An amended version of the Patient Access to Durable Medical Equipment Act of 2016 (H.R. 5210), passed through the House via voice vote Tuesday, includes the following provisions:
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 6, 2016)—Results are in from the most recent HME Audit Key survey. The latest round of results including ADRs from October 1, 2015 thru March 31, 2016, show the following:
—via AAHomecare
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 30, 2016)—We’re just two days away from the second phase of bidding-derived cuts for rural and non-bid area suppliers. With the House currently out of session, there’s no chance of action before July 1.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 24, 2016)—Just minutes after AAHomecare updated members about the status of rural relief legislation on Capitol Hill, they received CMS’s announcement of the release of the 2016 DMEPOS fee schedule amounts set to take effect on July 1 for certain items outside of Competitive Bid Areas that were adjusted based on information from the bidding program.
—via AAHomecare
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 24, 2016)—As reported to the AAHomecare membership Wednesday, we were successful in passing an amended version of S.2736 through the Senate via unanimous consent on Tuesday evening.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 23, 2016)—Legislation to delay a new round of cuts to rural and non-bid area suppliers and provide additional fixes to the Medicare competitive bidding program for home medical equipment (HME) was passed by the Senate late yesterday. The legislation (S. 2736), passed through the Senate via unanimous consent, would:
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 16, 2016)—AAHomecare has received confirmation that competitive bidding rural relief legislation is starting to move through the hotline process in the Senate. The bill is first being cleared through the Senate Finance Committee, who have until noon Thursday (June 16) to object to the bill. Once the bill clears the committee, it will go to the full Senate.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 8, 2016)—A newly released GAO report, “Medicare: Utilization and Expenditures for Complex Wheelchair Accessories,” was presented to Congress on June 1, 2016, just 30 days before prices derived from CMS’s flawed bidding program for home medical equipment are set to take effect for specialized complex rehab technology (CRT) wheelchairs used by individuals with profound mobility and disability challenges.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 2, 2016)—On the heels of last week's Washington Legislative Conference, the momentum is building for support of rural relief legislation. On Wednesday and Thursday, conference attendees met with more than 225 legislators' offices to discuss the Patient Access to Durable Medical Equipment (PADME) Act of 2016 and other advocacy priority issues.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 2, 2016)—The count is at 30 days until the July 1 cuts take effect, and AAHomecare is calling the HME community to commit to making every last effort to encourage Congress to support legislation for rural relief—The Patient Access to Durable Medical Equipment (PADME) Acts, H.R. 5210 and S. 2736.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 26, 2016)—The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Health & Human Services today released a report that raises more concerns about the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) ill-conceived competitive bidding program for home medical equipment.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 26, 2016)—A group of national and state associations sent a letter to Congressional leaders today urging passage of the Patient Access to Durable Medical Equipment Act of 2016 (S.2736 and H.R. 5210), bipartisan legislation that would ensure continued patient access to vital health care technology.