News

WASHINGTON – CMS published a revised January 2021 DMEPOS fee schedule with adjustments to 919 codes, AAHomecare reported this week.  The agency says it identified errors in the original fee schedule published on Dec. 11, 2020, prompting it to make the adjustments.  On average, non-rural areas will receive 0.9% more and rural areas will receive 0.5% more than the original fee schedule, according to an analysis by AAHomecare.  A small portion of the...

CARY, N.C. – The Accreditation Commission for Health Care has developed two new distinctions for DMEPOS-accredited organizations to help them demonstrate their commitment to patient quality of life.  The Distinction in Clinical Respiratory Patient Management allows providers to demonstrate expertise in managing respiratory conditions, and the Distinction in Custom Mobility recognizes first-rate providers of custom mobility products.  “By offering these groundbreaking distinctions,...

WASHINGTON – The Council for Quality Respiratory Care has partnered with AAHomecare and the VGM Group to send a one-page letter to CMS urging the agency to finalize the DMEPOS final rule as quickly as possible.  A proposed rule published in October outlined the agency’s plans to make permanent the 50-50 blended reimbursement rates in rural areas.  “In light of the pandemic, it is more important than ever that the Medicare...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California’s Department of Health Care Services has reversed plans to reduce reimbursement for oxygen concentrators 40% and will instead increase rates until the end of the public health emergency.  DHCS has submitted a waiver to CMS to increase the reimbursement rate for respiratory equipment from 80% to 100% of Medicare rural rates and eliminate a 10% clawback. Those rates will be retroactive to March 2020,...

MERION STATION, Pa. – The owner of OxygenWorks, Philomena Baylor, has divested her business to AdaptHealth.  OxygenWorks, based here, is a privately owned, multi-generational company providing a broad spectrum of respiratory equipment and supplies to patients in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey, according to a press release from the company’s adviser, Central HealthCare Group.  Central HealthCare Group is a Philadelphia-based investment banking firm representing...

YARMOUTH, Maine – The majority of respondents to a recent HME Newspoll say they’re eligible for COVID-19 vaccines, but they’re not immune to the difficulties securing access to them.  Nearly 80% of respondents to the poll say they are eligible for vaccines in their states.  “We have made it mandatory in our office,” wrote one respondent. “It makes a huge difference to have my delivery technicians and supporting...

WATERLOO, Iowa – For HME providers, the need for information and confirmation on waivers related to the public health emergency has ebbed and flowed with surges in COVID-19 cases, says Ronda Buhrmester of VGM Government Relations.  “Back in the spring, the hotspots were big cities and they were the ones dealing with the impact of the pandemic, while other areas were not,” said Buhrmester, senior director of payer relations....

WASHINGTON – President Biden is expected to name Chiquita Brooks-LaSure as CMS Administrator, according to numerous news reports.  Brooks-LaSure served in the Obama Administration, where she helped guide the Affordable Care Act through passage and implementation. She has also worked as a Democratic staffer for the Ways and Means Committee in the House of Representatives.   Brooks-LaSure is currently a managing director with Manatt Health, where she provides...

WASHINGTON – President Biden is expected to name Chiquita Brooks-LaSure as CMS Administrator, according to numerous news reports.  Brooks-LaSure served in the Obama Administration, where she helped guide the Affordable Care Act through passage and implementation. She has also worked as a Democratic staffer for the Ways and Means Committee in the House of Representatives.   Brooks-LaSure is currently a managing director with Manatt Health, where she provides policy analysis...

TAMPA, Fla. – Kelly Wolfe, president of Regency Inc., a medical billing company, has agreed to plead guilty to criminal health care and tax fraud, and to pay $20.3 million in a civil False Claims Act settlement.  Wolfe, of Indian Rocks Beach, Fla., faces a maximum penalty of 13 years in federal prison.  Wolfe and her conspirators used Regency to establish dozens of DME shell companies, placing the shell companies in the names of straw...