News

WASHINGTON – CMS has an opportunity to strengthen state oversight of reporting by Medicaid managed care plans on medical loss ratios (MLRs), according to a new report from the Office of Inspector General. States reported that most Medicaid managed care plans submitted MLR reports; however, the OIG found that 49% of the 495 MLR reports reviewed were incomplete. These incomplete MLR reports were missing at least one of seven numeric data elements that are essential to the MLR calculation....

WASHINGTON – A continuing resolution to fund the government is expected to pass without any of the industry’s legislative initiatives, but stakeholders are looking ahead to the end of the year, with a boost from the Sept. 21 AAHomecare Virtual Washington Legislative Conference.  Those initiatives include H.R. 6641, a bill that would implement a blended reimbursement rate based 90% on bid pricing and 10% on the 2015 fee schedule and would extend a 75/25 blended rate for non-bid,...

YARMOUTH, Maine – Bellevue Healthcare, based in Bellevue, Wash., was named the 2022 HME Provider of the Year at the HME News Business Summit in Nashville on Sept. 19.   As part of the HME Excellence Awards hosted by HME News, Bellevue Healthcare completed an initial application and a finalist application, providing information on its financials, quality control, staffing and community involvement.   “Congratulations to Joel Gallion and the whole team at Bellevue Healthcare,”...

WASHINGTON – Stakeholders held meetings with more than 240 offices in the Senate and House of Representatives as part of the Virtual Washington Legislative Conference on Sept. 21, AAHomecare reports.  "Thanks to the higher number of attendees, we were able to reach almost 10% more offices than last year,” the association stated in a bulletin.  In all, 158 stakeholders participated in the conference.  Issues covered in the meetings included H.R. 6641, a bill that...

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – DMEscripts LLC, an industry-owned e-prescribing platform, has announced the addition of John Brady as CEO and Frank Schools as CFO.   Brady, a 25-year veteran of the healthcare industry, including two healthcare startups, brings extensive experience in digital health transformation with an emphasis on product and innovation. Schools joins DMEscripts following a 43-year career in finance, including a broad background in venture capital, private equity, mergers and...

YARMOUTH, Maine – Bellevue Healthcare, based in Bellevue, Wash., was named the 2022 HME Provider of the Year at the HME News Business Summit in Nashville on Monday night.  As part of the HME Excellence Awards hosted by HME News, Bellevue Healthcare completed an initial application and a finalist application, providing information on its financials, quality control, staffing and community involvement.  “Congratulations to Joel Gallion and the whole team at Bellevue...

WASHINGTON – A record 300-plus advocates participated in the NCART/NRRTS Virtual Congressional Fly-in on Sept. 14.  Those advocates, who included consumers, clinicians, providers, manufacturers, family members, caregivers and others, held meetings with 292 congressional offices throughout the day.  “In the weeks ahead, we will be carrying out the important task of following up with offices on the ‘congressional asks’ presented,” said Don Clayback in an...

WATERLOO, Iowa – The VGM Group will open nominations for the 2022 HME Woman of the Year Award on Sept. 19.   The award, now in its 7th year, recognizes a woman who has made increasingly significant contributions throughout her career to her company, community, and the home medical equipment industry.    “The HME Woman of the Year Award honors the incredible dedication that women have to the industry,” said Mike Mallaro, CEO, VGM Group. “It recognizes women...

WASHINGTON – High-risk providers represent a small portion of all providers who billed for a telehealth service, but strong, targeted oversight of these services is still important, according to a new report from the Office of Inspector General.  The OIG identified 1,714 providers out of about 742,000 whose billing for telehealth services during the first year of the pandemic posed a high risk to Medicare, representing a total of $127.7 million in Medicare fee-for-service payments for...

WASHINGTON – CMS has begun setting the stage for the end of the public health emergency and so should HME providers, say stakeholders.  The agency recently released an overview, “Creating a Roadmap for the End of the Covid-19 Public Health Emergency,” and while it doesn’t provide new information, it summarizes waivers still in place and those that have already expired.  “Eventually, the PHE is going to come to an end and suppliers need to be thinking...