WASHINGTON—The Durable Medical Equipment Medicare Administrative Contractor (DME MAC) Medical Directors published updated Medicare guidelines regarding positive airway pressure (PAP) and respiratory assist device (RAD) supplies.
WASHINGTON—In the United States, hundreds of thousands of individuals face the challenges and risks of malnutrition, necessitating life-sustaining enteral nutrition (EN) to receive necessary nutrition and hydration. Delivered through various methods into the gastrointestinal tract, EN is indispensable for individuals with diverse medical conditions either temporarily or as a lifelong requirement.
YONKERS, N.Y., June 4, 2012—An article in the July edition of Consumer Reports concludes that medical providers are the key drivers for rising health care costs, and have the power to set prices for procedures at widely varying levels. For example, the article notes that the cost of a brain MRI can range from a low of $504 to a high of $2,520. A chest X-ray can cost from $40 to $255.
S&P Indices last week announced the results of its S&P Economic Healthcare Indices for the year ending December 2011. Across the board, health care costs as measured by annual rates of change went up in the last month of the year. The S&P Healthcare Economic Composite Index indicates that the average per capita cost of health care services covered by commercial insurance and Medicare programs increased by 5.28 percent over the 12-months ending December 2011.
HME spending hit $7.5 billion in 2010, which represents no growth compared to the previous year, according to an analysis of CMS data by the American Association for Homecare.
