Tag: Bid Relief

There’s been a lot of talk about the increased appreciation for home care due to the COVID-19  pandemic. And now we’re seeing lawmakers walk the talk. The omnibus bill they passed in December included not one but a handful of provisions that impact the HME industry: An extension of the 75/25 blended Medicare reimbursement rate in non-competitive bidding/non-rural areas through the end of the public health emergency or Dec. 31, 2023, whichever is later. A delay of the...

WASHINGTON – A new bill in the House of Representatives gives the HME industry a “one-two punch” to get reimbursement relief passed through Congress potentially in March.  The DMEPOS Relief Act, introduced Feb. 8 by Reps. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., and Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., would implement a blended reimbursement rate in competitive bidding areas based 90% on bid pricing and 10% on the 2015 fee schedule, representing about a 10% to 15% increase, to help address rising...

Earlier this month, Managing Editor Theresa Flaherty and I were trying to piece together the latest developments in reimbursement relief and we were both getting pretty frustrated. AAHomecare announced recently that the industry's champions in the House of Representatives had introduced H.R. 8158, a bill that would eliminate the budget neutrality requirement for home oxygen therapy. The association says the House Energy and Commerce Committee requested that the provision be peeled away from the other...

WASHINGTON - The HME industry's champions in the House of Representatives have indicated that they're still invested in securing permanent relief for rural and other non-bid suppliers, AAHomecare says. The champions are also invested in eliminating the oxygen budget neutrality requirement that's impacting reimbursement in rural areas, according to the association. “The lead sponsors for (H.R. 2771) have suggested that building additional co-sponsor support for (the bill) will increase prospects...

WASHINGTON - A number of champions for the HME industry, including Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., have won their re-election bids in Congress.McMorris-Rodgers, who bested her Democratic contender Lisa Brown, has led a number of efforts to provide relief from Medicare's competitive bidding program, including introducing H.R. 4229, which has 157 co-sponsors. She has also spearheaded a number of congressional sign-on letters to CMS requesting relief.A number of champions for complex rehab have...

ATLANTA - CMS's final rule with significant changes to the competitive bidding program has moved to the Office of Management and Budget for clearance, Tom Ryan told Medtrade attendees at Tuesday morning's AAHomecare Washington Update.“That's breaking news,” said Ryan, president and CEO, who learned of the development as the session was drawing to a close.Stakeholders expect the final rule to be published in November. An earlier proposed rule received 514 comments by its Sept. 10 deadline.“That's...

WASHINGTON - A groundswell of grassroots support carried a pair of bid-related sign-on letters over the finish line last week, say industry stakeholders.The final tally: 138 signatures on the letter in the House of Representatives, spearheaded by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash.; and 32 signatures on the letter in the Senate, spearheaded by Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D.“Every office we walked into had heard from state leaders and providers,” said Tom Ryan, president...

WASHINGTON - A sign-on letter in the House of Representatives that seeks additional relief from Medicare's competitive bidding program has nearly 100 signatures, VGM Group reports this week.The deadline for collecting signatures for the letter, spearheaded by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., is this Friday, Oct. 5.“Great work reaching out to your member of Congress,” VGM stated in a bulletin.The letter will be sent to CMS Administrator Seema Verma, HHS Secretary Alex Azar and OMB...

WASHINGTON - A Senate sign-on letter supporting additional relief from Medicare's competitive bidding program was released this morning, a companion letter to one circulating in the House of Representatives which has garnered 79 signatures so far.The Senate letter, spearheaded by Sens. John Thune, R-S.D, and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., urges CMS to increase reimbursement rates in bid areas until the next round of the program is implemented and extend 50/50 blended reimbursement rates to all non-bid areas...

WASHINGTON - Forty members of the House of Representatives have so far agreed to add their names to a sign-on letter that makes the case for additional relief from Medicare's competitive bidding program, AAHomecare reports.The letter, spearheaded by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., pushes CMS to increase reimbursement rates in bid areas until the next round of the program is implemented and extend 50/50 blended reimbursement rates to all non-bid areas as part of its forthcoming final rule.“Please...