WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 18, 2019)—Provisions permanently excluding manual complex rehab technology (CRT) wheelchairs from the competitive bidding program have been included in FY 2020 appropriations legislation. The legislation also exempts CRT manual accessories from bidding-derived pricing for an 18-month period, starting Jan. 1, 2020.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 12, 2019)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is requesting comments from the public on questions to include in their competitive bidding program survey to stakeholders. CMS is interested in surveying stakeholders such as beneficiaries, contract suppliers and discharge planners to monitor the program in real-time. These comments are due Friday, Dec. 20.


WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 26, 2019)—The National Quality Forum (NQF) recently posted the list of Measures Under Consideration (MUC) for future use in the hospice quality reporting program (HQRP) and the home health quality reporting program (HHQRP). The list is released annually, and there is an opportunity for stakeholder comment. In fact, comments were due Nov. 25, 2019.


WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 30, 2019)—To allow home health agencies to transition to the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM), which becomes effective on Jan. 1, 2020, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is rescheduling the implementation of the Home Health Review Choice Demonstration (RCD) for the remaining states of Texas, North Carolina and Florida. The demonstration is expected to begin in Texas on March 2, 2020. The choice selection period will begin on Jan.


WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 18, 2019)—Recently the Senate Appropriations Committee announced legislation funding the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education. This legislation outlines discretionary spending limits allowable to HHS as well as recommendations from Congress on how the money is allocated within agencies and programs. This is an annual process dictating spending levels for the upcoming fiscal year.

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (June 28, 2019)—AdhereHealth, a health care technology company focused on medication adherence, has announced a partnership with Papa, a companionship platform company serving the elderly, blind and disabled. A growing issue for millions of Americans enrolled in Medicare are social determinants of health (SDOH) such as loneliness, food insecurity and transportation, any one of which can impede optimal health care and medication adherence.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 3, 2019)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) announced that the next state to participate in the Review Choice Demonstration (RCD) is Texas and it will begin on Dec. 2, 2019. CMS also indicated that implementation of RCD in the remaining states of North Carolina and Florida is expected to begin on March 30, 2020, as CMS is pausing implementation to allow for the transition to PDGM which begins on Jan. 1, 2020.