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.
AAHomecare
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.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 6, 2016)—In honor of an innovative and dedicated champion of the HME community, the Homecare Champion Award presented each year at the Stand Up for Homecare reception will now be named the Van Miller Homecare Champion Award. This honor, which is presented for outstanding HME service, is being renamed to reflect the characteristics of HME visionary Van G. Miller, past CEO and founder of the VGM Group, Inc.
WASHINGTON, D.C (September 29, 2016)—This past spring, AAHomecare widely distributed a survey to members and other companies in the respiratory segment exploring the possibility of restructuring the basic tenets of respiratory reimbursement via a new payment methodology focusing on Chronic Respiratory Management.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 22, 2016)—This month, two vibrant state HME associations will transition leadership after their fall conferences.
The Wisconsin Association of Medical Equipment Services (WAMES) announced that longtime executive director Ann Barrett will be retiring after the organization’s annual conference at the end of September in Delevan, Wisconsin.
ATLANTA (September 7, 2016)—Team USA, the current and back-to-back World Cup Power Soccer champions, will play exhibition games at Medtrade on November 1 in Atlanta. Players will be introduced in the morning at the Washington Update session hosted by AAHomecare, where United States Representative Tom Price (R-Ga) has been invited to speak. Two full exhibition games, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, will be played on the show floor.
WASHINGTON, D.C (August 26, 2016)—Home medical equipment providers who serve our nation’s military personnel are being hit with shocking new Medicare reimbursement cuts thanks to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) decision to widely apply rates from its competitive bidding program outside its original footprint in metro areas to now encompass the entire country.
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.
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.