BALTIMORE (Dec. 18, 2013)—The CMS plans to award a contract early next year to a company that will conduct fingerprint-based background checks for thousands of Medicare providers and suppliers each year.
Alan Dupuis
WASHINGTON (Dec. 11, 2013)—Ask your senators to support amendments to fix the disastrous Medicare bidding program.
Key members of Congress advised AAH recently that the best chance they have of reducing the tremendous burden of the Medicare bidding program on providers and their patients is to develop fixes based on the industry solution—the market pricing program.
WASHINGTON (Nov. 11, 2013)—Crucial decisions loom for providers pondering whether to grandfather their patients in Round 1 bidding areas. Just more than a week remains to meet the grandfathering letter requirement.
Round one Recompete contracts start on January 1, 2014, and the requirement to send letters out is 30 business days prior to the beginning of the contract period. Since there are many holidays throughout the remainder of the year, the 30-day window closes Nov. 18.
WASHINGTON (Nov. 11, 2013)—Two weeks ago, CMS announced that full implementation of PECOS Phase II edits on ordering/referring HME providers in Medicare Part B will be in place effective Jan. 6, 2014. AAHomecare worked closely with CMS on the original delay of Phase II seven months ago, which was because of a lack of guidance on the operational effects of the edits.
WASHINGTON (Nov. 15, 2013)—Congressional briefings on the bidding program will take place on Monday, Nov. 18. All Senate members and House Ways & Means and Energy & Commerce members have been invited. Because the briefings are not open to the public, AAHomecare staff and members will be unable to attend.
AUBURN, Mich. (Oct. 31, 2013)—A Medicare bidding program is jeopardizing the health of Michigan senior citizens and people living with disabilities who are unable to obtain critical home medical equipment prescribed by their physicians. More than 100 Michigan Medicare patients have sought assistance from a consumer hotline, despite claims from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that there have been few problems.
WASHINGTON (Oct. 24, 2013)—Only a few Medicare patients have reported problems related to the bidding program for home medical equipment that rolled out in 91 new areas on July 1, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Yet, more than 2,000 patients have called an organization, People for Quality Care, desperately seeking assistance for situations jeopardizing their health and quality of life.
CMS recently announced that StrategicHealthSolutions has become a supplemental medical review/specialty contractor (SMRC) to “perform and/or provide support for a variety of tasks aimed at lowering the improper payment rates and increasing efficiencies of the medical review functions of the Medicare and Medicaid programs.”
HALIFAX, Va. (Oct. 8, 2013)—Wayne E. Stanfield, vice president of provider relations for the American Association for Homecare and former president and CEO of the National Association of Independent Medical Equipment Suppliers (NAIMES), formally announced his retirement from his position at AAHomecare and the national stage effective November 15, 2013.
When is the line crossed? It is perfectly acceptable for an HME provider to provide services to its patients that the provider's competitors do not provide. This is good business. These are classified as "value-added services."
WASHINGTON—As reported by PRNewswire-USNewswire: For years, William Welch, 58, was a truck driver, a free spirit traveling along the roads.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—AAHomecare and the Accredited Medical Equipment Providers of America (AMEPA) have reached an agreement to merge their organizations. The combined association will maintain the AAHomecare name and continue to do business in Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Earlier this year AAHomecare engaged the law firm of Hooper, Lundy & Bookman P.C.
WASHINGTON, D.C.— The homecare community has mobilized in recent weeks to make sure that every member of Congress knows just how badly CM
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 11, 2013—Just nine days into Round 2, AAHomecare is receiving reports of delays, equipment shortages and contractors refusing services in bid areas around the country. Yet, CMS is reporting just a few dozen complaints.
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 1, 2013—Although you may not have felt it, on July 1, 2013, the earth certainly moved under the feet of DME suppliers across the country. It was the beginnings of a tectonic shift in how consumers will get their home medical equipment and supplies. Cracks began to show up on the surface of the DME world over the past months but on July 1, fissures began to open up that will swallow a large number of suppliers and the patients they serve.
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 19, 2013—The American Association for Homecare, along with a home medical equipment provider from Maryland, announce the filing of a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., asking that the scheduled July 1 expansion of the Medicare competitive bidding program (CBP) for durable medical equipment (DME) be stopped because of serious licensing irregularities.
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 17, 2013—As turmoil escalates with disclosures that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) awarded contracts to unlicensed home medical equipment providers, the Ohio congressional delegation asked CMS to suspend the controversial bidding program that selects suppliers to provide durable medical equipment (DME) to Medicare beneficiaries.
BALTIMORE, Md., June 5, 2013—As reported on the PRNewswire-USNewswire, Medicare’s national bidding program for durable medical equipment (DME) is violating its own rules and may endanger beneficiaries after awarding contracts to winning bidders who haven’t qualified for proper state and local licenses or accreditations, according to the American Association for Homecare.
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 31. 2013—AAHomecare said goodbye to several directors from its Board of Directors and welcomed others during its annual membership meeting.
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 31, 2013—This year’s Washington Legislative Conference was a resounding success thanks to the more than 250 homecare advocates who made visits to Representatives and Senators. In all, advocates completed approximately 300 visits to Congressional offices. The visits had an immediate impact. By Friday afternoon, H.R. 1717 had 96 cosponsors and the Thompson-Braley letter to CMS asking for a delay implementing Round 2 had 45 additional signers.