Archive: April 2024
CQRC pushes SOAR Act as part of hearing
April 29, 2024HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – The Council for Quality Respiratory Care submitted a statement highlighting the need for Medcare to standardize the process for determining medical necessity for home oxygen therapy as part of a recent congressional hearing on “Examining How Improper Payments Cost Taxpayers Billions and Weaken Medicare and Medicaid.”
In the statement, the CQRC recommends CMS require Medicare contractors to use the clinical data element templates already created by the agency...
KFF updates Medicaid enrollment tracker
April 29, 2024HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – At least 20.3 million Medicaid enrollees have been disenrolled as of April 18, 2024, based on the most current data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the Kaiser Family Foundation has reported. Overall, 31% of people with a completed renewal were disenrolled in reporting states, while 69%, or 44.4 million enrollees, had their coverage renewed (one reporting state does not include data on renewed enrollees), KFF reports. Other findings from the data, according to KFF:...
Owlet, Wheel speed up access to monitoring device
April 29, 2024HME News Staff
LEHI, Utah – Virtual care provider Wheel can now provide caregivers with timely prescriptions for BabySat, Owlet’s infant pulse oximeter, through a new strategic partnership. The new BabySat virtual telehealth services platform, managed and powered by Wheel, also integrates with DME suppliers who accept and can bill for the product through insurance providers, which may offer up to 100% reimbursement. “Home monitoring plays a pivotal role in safeguarding at-risk infants by improving...
Philips settles additional lawsuits
April 29, 2024HME News Staff
AMSTERDAM – Philips Respironics, without admitting any fault, has agreed to pay $1.1 billion to resolve the personal injury litigation and the medical monitoring class action related to a recall of certain sleep and respiratory devices in the U.S.
The company has made a provision of EUR 982 million in the first quarter of 2024 and expects to make payments in 2025 from its cash flow generation.
Philips has also concluded an agreement with insurers to pay the company EUR 540...
ResMed sees nothing but ‘tailwind’
April 26, 2024Liz Beaulieu, Editor
SAN DIEGO – The impact of GLP-1 drugs on the CPAP therapy market has stolen the headlines recently, but ResMed Chairman and CEO Mick Farrell says the impact of wearables might be “a higher tidal wave.”
Farrell, on a recent conference call to discuss the company’s financial results for the third quarter of its fiscal year 2024, noted the Samsung Galaxy Watch’s recent de novo authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to detect signs of sleep apnea...
Option Care details impact of cyberattack
April 26, 2024Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
BANNOCKBURN, Ill. – Option Care Health’s cash flow during the first quarter was negatively impacted by the Change Healthcare cyberattack, but the company has not changed its outlook for the full year, executives said on a recent earnings call.
From the date of the cyberattack on February 21 through the rest of the quarter, Option Care was unable to submit more than half its claims, said John Rademacher, president and CEO.
“This has resulted in a detrimental...
Stakeholders secure repair reform in Tennessee
April 26, 2024Liz Beaulieu, Editor
NASHVILLE – A bill that has passed in the Tennessee General Assembly provides “model legislation” for securing coverage and payment for preventative maintenance for complex rehab wheelchairs and paves the way for a larger effort on repair reform, stakeholders say.
The bill requires the state Medicaid program, TennCare, to cover and pay for preventative maintenance once a year, in a move that would help to address the difficulties that some wheelchair users are experiencing...
EW’s Focus is at Heartland
April 26, 2024Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
WATERLOO, Iowa – VGM’s Heartland Conference will host Focus at Heartland this year, a change in format for Essentially Women’s annual conference that will allow organizers to “go above and beyond” what they offer women’s health providers, says Nikki Jensen.
“The abundance of resources and thought leaders that we have at Heartland – this is an unprecedented opportunity to bring it to EW members,” said Jensen, vice president of EW, a division...
In brief: Cyberattack update, PBM reform, Medicaid hearing
April 26, 2024HME News Staff
MINNEAPOLIS – Change Healthcare says it has made “strong progress” restoring services impacted by a cyberattack in February.
In the April 22 update, Change Healthcare said that medical claims across the U.S. health system are moving at near-normal levels, as systems come back online or providers switch to other methods of submission. The company said it realizes there are a small number of providers who continue to be adversely impacted and it is working with them to find...
Health care goes OTC
April 26, 2024Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
As is par for the course these days, my inbox this month has been filled with diabetes tech announcements: Edgepark is adding a new insulin delivery system to its portfolio, Insulet’s Omnipod is fueling growth and Ascensia is expanding access to its Eversense device by extending its PASS program, which offers a substantial discount for users.
That last one is key: All the technology in the world won’t help if it’s too expensive for people to acquire. And this stuff is expensive...