Archive: August 2003

BENTONVILLE, Ark. - The decision by Wal-Mart to enter the on-line diabetic supplies market has others in this business watching closely to see what the possible next move for this retailing giant might be. Wal-Mart began selling Reli On test strips, meters, insulin and insulin delivery devices in July via the walmart.com mail-order pharmacy. Although Wal-Mart's on-line efforts exclude Medicare billing, respect for company's size and buying power are warranting close observation. Wal-Mart Spokesperson...

WASHINGTON - While the HME industry braces for a Congressional decision on competitive bidding, the House and Senate have agreed to move forward with a measure that would prohibit the DMERCs from extrapolating overpayments from a small number of claims to a large number of claims. The measure is part of a package of Medicare regulatory and contracting reform agreed to by the House and Senate conference committee that is trying to reconcile each chamber's Medicare reform legislation. Conference...

WASHINGTON - While associations such as AAHomecare are fighting the fight for the whole HME industry, smaller groups are fighting to keep rehab, specifically, out of any final Medicare reform legislation that includes competitive bidding. The Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) recently sent key House and Senate members a position paper warning that competitive bidding would eliminate the individualized assessment, as well as diminish the training...

Apria's DSO continues to shrink LAKE FOREST, Calif. - Apria Healthcare continued to push down its DSO in the second quarter, reducing it from 53 to 52 days, the company reported last month. Apria's DSO looks all the more impressive when compared to the industry average, which stands at 85 days, according to AAHomecare's 2002 Financial Performance Survey Report. During the first half of 2003, Apria acquired 12 business for an aggregate purchase price of $44.6 million. All of the deals were funded...

ABBOTT PARK, Ill. - In one of the largest healthcare fraud settlements in U.S. History, Abbott Labs has agreed to pay as much as $622 million to resolve allegations that the company helped HME providers and other enteral nutrition suppliers bilk the Medicare program. At issue is a marketing practice in which Abbott subsidiary, Ross Products, would give suppliers free feeding pumps but then support their efforts to bill Medicare and Medicaid for those pumps. The government declined to accept Abbott's...

WASHINGTON - The FBI appears to be once again turning up the heat on healthcare-related fraud and abuse. Following the Sept. 11, 2001 bombing of the World Trade Center, the FBI deployed 7,000 of its 12,000 agents to help track down nearly 500,000 leads related the 9/11 attack. “As those leads were covered and there was no longer a need for agents to be involved in that case, they were moved back to their regular beats,” an FBI source told HME News. What that means, among other things,...

Editor, HME News As unpopular as the prospect of mandatory accreditation is for a significant portion of HME providers - nearly half of the respondents to a recent HME NewsPoll opposed the measure - it makes sense for AAHomecare to get behind the initiative. The association was slow to embrace the measure, given the considerable opposition, but has now coupled its car to an engine that's likely to chug whether we like it or not. “For us to be on the same plane as some of the other professions...

WASHINGTON - House and Senate proposals for a Medicare drug benefit don't meet the needs of the AARP's 35 million members, the group stated in an 8-page letter to Congress in July. Among other things, the AARP wants any Medicare reform to: - not create incentives for employers to drop retiree coverage; - ensure prescription drug coverage in all areas of the country; - guarantee the same level of benefit to all beneficiaries regardless of income. If the final agreement “does more harm than...

DSM association supports House Medicare reform WASHINGTON - While the HME industry has lobbied hard against the House Medicare reform bill, which calls for competitive bidding and increased privatization, there's at least one niche within the market that has embraced it: the Disease Management Association of America (DMAA). There's good reason for DMAA's support: The proposed legislation would not only provide prescription drug benefits to U.S. seniors but also offer disease state management benefits....

New HIPAA pointers With Corrine Parver Q. What new guidance is HHS offering for DMEPOS companies regarding implementation of HIPAA's transactions and code sets standards? A. As explained in a July 24 HHS “Guidance,” CMS will focus on obtaining “voluntary compliance” and use a “complaint-driven approach” for enforcing these provisions. Starting Oct. 16, when CMS receives a complaint, the agency is expected to notify the covered entity in writing that a complaint...