In brief: Synapse Health contract, CPI-U update, BOC guidance, Trace Medical investment 

SKOKIE, Ill. - UnitedHealthcare has announced that Synapse Health will manage durable medical equipment (DME) orders for certain UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans in additional states beginning April 1, 2026. 

For individual HMO and PPO plans, Synapse will manage DME for members in these states: Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wisconsin. 

For chronic special needs plans (C-SNP), Synapse Health will manage DME for members in these states: Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. 

For dual special needs plans (D-SNP), Synapse Health will manage DME for members in these states: North Dakota, South Dakota and West Virginia 

UHC says DME providers will need to join the Synapse Health network to continue to provide standard DME for most UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage Plan members. Synapse Health will contact providers about joining its network. 

The change impacts the following mail-order supplies and standard DME products: 

• Diabetic supplies 
• Enteral 
• Home ambulatory 
• Hospital beds 
• Insulin therapy 
• Mobility aids  
• Negative pressure wound therapy 
• Ostomy 
• Oxygen 
• Respiratory 
• Respiratory vest 
• Sleep 
• Urological 
• Ventilators 
• Wheelchairs — standard 
• Wound care   

In July, UHC announced that beginning Oct. 1, 2025, the DME ordering and fulfilment process in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia would be managed by Synapse Health for members with individual HMO and PPO UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans. Additionally, the DME process for C-SNP in Illinois would also be managed by the company. 

In May, UHC announced that beginning Aug. 1, 2025, the DME ordering and fulfillment process in Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia will be managed by Synapse Health for members with individual HMO and PPO UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans, as well as C-SNP. Additionally, the DME process for C-SNP plans in Georgia will also be managed by Synapse Health. 

Last year, UnitedHealthcare entered into a capitated arrangement with Synapse Health for standard DME in Georgia and North Carolina for its Medicare Advantage plan members enrolled in HMO and PPO plans.    

CPI-U adjustments for 2026 are in 

WASHINGTON – The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) adjustments for the calendar year 2026 DMEPOS fee schedule range from 2% to 2.8% depending on a Medicare beneficiary’s zip code, AAHomecare reports. The CPI-U adjustments are as follows: 

• CBP items in former CBAs (projected percentage change): 2.8% 
• CBP items in non-CBAs (CPI-U): 2.7% (Note: not directly stated in the change request) 
• Non-CBP items (CPI-U minus productivity adjustment): 2% 

AAHomecare’s analysis includes: 

What this means for CBP items in former CBAs. For items such as CPAP devices, oxygen, standard & power wheelchairs and NPWT, where the payment is based on CBP payment rates, the 2.8% increase should be directly applied to the current 2025 fee schedule. 

What this means for non-CBP items. For items that have never been part of the CBP, such as urological and ostomy supplies, the 2% inflation adjustment should be directly applied to the current 2025 fee schedule, regardless of location in the country. 

What this means for CBP items in rural areas. For CBP items in rural areas, the 50/50 blended rate will continue to be applied (50% fully adjusted regional payment/50% unadjusted fee schedule from 2015), meaning the 2.7% increase will only be applied to the fully adjusted portion of the calculation. As such, the portion of the reimbursement calculation that is based on the static 2015 rates will remain the same, but the fully adjusted portion will increase by 2.7%. 

What this means for CBP items in non-rural areas. For CBP items in non-rural areas, non-bid areas, the payment rate would be a 2.7% increase to the current CY 2025 non-rural, non-bid rates.  

View the full CY 2026 DMEPOS fee schedule here. 

AAH receives additional BOC accreditation guidance from CMS  

WASHINGTON – Home medical equipment (HME) providers may work with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to extend their current accreditation until their transition to a new accreditation organization (AO) has been finalized, AAHomecare reports in a new bulletin. 

The extension applies to HME providers who are changing AOs as a result of CMS’s decision to withdraw its approval of the Board of Certification/Accreditation (BOC).  

AAHomecare says impacted providers should contact CMS at the following email address to initiate the process: DMEAccreditation@cms.hhs.gov. 

“Suppliers that are currently in, or were recently in, the process of reaccreditation with BOC should begin engaging with a new CMS-approved AO as soon as possible,” the association states. 

CMS has also published a Q&A document with guidance for impacted providers. 

BOC has filed a lawsuit against Robert F. Kennedy, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), for abruptly withdrawing its approval as an accreditation organization HME providers effective Dec. 2. The company says that, since Dec. 2, its focus has been on DMEPOS customers most immediately impacted by the change: new and reaccrediting facilities in the process of completing the final requirements to confirm compliance and receive accreditation.   

Medtronic starts IPO process for MiniMed 

GALWAY, Ireland – Medtronic has announced that its diabetes business, which will operate under the name MiniMed, has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a proposed initial public offering (IPO) of newly issued common stock. The separation is expected to be completed through a series of capital markets transactions, with a preferred path of an IPO and subsequent split-off. MiniMed intends to apply to have its common stock listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol MMED. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not yet been determined. The IPO is expected to commence after the completion of the SEC review process, subject to market and other conditions. A registration statement on Form S-1 relating to these securities has been filed with the SEC but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. 

Lifeway Mobility opens second location in Texas 

HARTFORD, Conn. - Lifeway Mobility is opening a new location in Houston to serve residents in the greater Houston area, including Beaufort and Galveston, as well as the surrounding communities. Lifeway Mobility says the location will allow it to provide local coverage and quicker response times to people across southeastern Texas. “We’re excited to open our second location in the state of Texas and look forward to serving customers in the Houston market with the highest level of customer care,” said Marty Twadell, division vice president at Lifeway Mobility. “Expanding into Houston reflects our goal of helping people maintain their independence at home and giving their families peace of mind. Our local team is eager to serve individuals across southeastern Texas and improve their access and quality of life one home at a time.” Lifeway Mobility has served people in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for more than 15 years. At the Houston location, the company will offer stair lifts, wheelchair ramps and lifts, ceiling lifts, home elevators and transfer aids. Lifeway Mobility also recently opened a new location in Ashburn, Va., to serve residents across the greater Washington, D.C., area, including northern Virginia and select areas of the eastern part of the state. 

Owner of DMERx sentenced to jail, ordered to pay restitution 

WASHINGTON – Gary Cox, CEO of Power Mobility Doctor Rx (DMERx), has been sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $452 million in restitution for conspiring to defraud Medicare and other federal health care benefit programs of more than $1 billion by operating a platform that generated false doctor orders used to support fraudulent claims for various medical items, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). “This just sentence is the result of one of the largest telemarketing Medicare fraud cases ever tried to verdict,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Telemedicine scammers who use junk mailers, spam calls and the internet to target senior citizens steal taxpayer money and harm vulnerable populations. The Criminal Division will continue dedicating substantial resources to the fight against telemedicine and medical equipment frauds that drain our health care benefit programs.” According to court documents and evidence presented at trial: 

• Cox and his co-conspirators owned, controlled and operated DMERx, an internet-based platform that generated false and fraudulent doctors' orders for orthotic braces, pain creams and other items. 
• As part of the scheme, Cox connected pharmacies, durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers and marketers with telemedicine companies that would accept illegal kickbacks and bribes in exchange for signed doctors' orders transmitted using the DMERx platform. 
• Cox and his co-conspirators received payments for coordinating these illegal kickback transactions and referring the completed orders to the DME suppliers, pharmacies and telemarketers that paid kickbacks and bribes for the orders. 
• The fraudulent orders generated by DMERx falsely represented that a doctor had examined and treated the Medicare beneficiaries when, in fact, purported telemedicine companies paid doctors to sign the orders without regard to medical necessity, based only on a brief telephone call with the beneficiary or no interaction with the beneficiary at all. 
• The DME suppliers and pharmacies that paid illegal kickbacks in exchange for these doctors’ orders billed Medicare and other insurers more than $1 billion, and Medicare and the insurers paid more than $360 million based on these claims. 
• Cox and his co-conspirators concealed the scheme through sham contracts and by eliminating from doctors’ orders what one co-conspirator described as “dangerous words” that might cause Medicare to audit the scheme’s DME suppliers. 

In June 2025, Cox was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, three counts of health care fraud, conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks and conspiracy to defraud the United States and make false statements in connection with health care matters. 

Trace Medical backs LiViliti Health Products 

WHITMORE LAKE, Mich. - Trace Medical, a provider of advanced respiratory rentals and biomedical services, has made an equity investment in LiViliti Health Products, a Sarasota, Fla.-based manufacturer of CPAP and respiratory accessories. The two companies are a natural fit that combines LiViliti’s line of health cleaning products and Trace Medical’s infrastructure and market reach, says Greg Apostolou, CEO of Trace Medical. “The team at LiViliti has developed an impressive product portfolio and knows their business very well,” he said. “We are fortunate to work alongside them.” Trace Medical and LiViliti will coordinate a go-to-market initiative beginning in early 2026 that will include aligning commercial strategies, messaging and outreach across shared customer segments. “We are pleased with the opportunity to deliver LiViliti’s product solutions to customers across our shared customer based,” said Elliot Campbell, chief commercial officer of Trace Medical. “Trace’s commercial team looks forward to collaboratively expanding market share throughout its provider network.” LiViliti plans to use the investment from Trace Medical to accelerate innovation, expand reach and better serve health care systems, says Brian Sharpe, CEO of LiViliti. “This partnership allows us to deliver more integrated impactful solutions that support clinicians, protect patients and improve outcomes across care settings,” he said. The investment also elevates LiViliti from a startup to an established manufacturer and innovator in the CPAP market, says Jim Gilkison, vice president. “We’re excited to enter this next phase and grateful to have such experienced industry professionals supporting our efforts,” he said. “Thanks to everyone who helped make this exciting partnership a reality.” 

• Related: Trace Medical and Encore Healthcare team up to help providers streamline the process of managing ventilator patients and improve their ability to deliver clinical outcomes. 
• Related: Trace Medical names Clint Geffert COO. 

Owlet secures partnership with mom-and-baby focused DME provider 1 Natural Way 

LEHI, Utah – Owlet will now provide BabySat, its prescription pulse oximeter that’s cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on 1NaturalWay.com. Together, Owlet and 1 Natural Way aim to reach more families who could benefit from clinically validated, prescription-supported home monitoring. "We are thrilled to expand the availability of Owlet products via 1 Natural Way, as a leader in the parenting space for essential products, specifically for mothers and babies," said Jonathan Harris, Owlet’s president and CEO. "With a large online patient presence and many satisfied families, this partnership supports efficient digital acquisition and fulfillment for prescription BabySat." 1 Natural Way offers a national, digital-first insurance fulfillment experience for moms and babies, working with major commercial plans, many state Medicaid networks, and TRICARE, the health care program for uniformed service members, retirees, and their family members. By leveraging 1 Natural Way’s established relationships and national insurance infrastructure, Owlet aims to expand BabySat access for families with higher-risk infant health needs. This includes a focus on TRICARE families, representing roughly 9.5 million individuals across the Military Health System. "1 Natural Way was founded to bring compassion back into maternal care, a system that can too often feel impersonal and fragmented,” said Ryan Wright, CEO of 1 Natural Way. “Every mom deserves support that meets her where she is. Our partnership with Owlet continues our mission of ensuring that moms receive access to the highest level of care for themselves and their babies during a sensitive and deeply personal time in their lives." For families who do not need prescription-level at-home infant monitoring, 1 Natural Way also offers Owlet’s FDA-cleared Dream Sock. 

Physician pleads guilty to adulterating, misbranding CPAP devices 

SPOKANE, Wash. - Dr. Eric Edward Haeger, age 57, of Brewster, Wash., has pleaded guilty to adulterating and misbranding CPAP and BiPAP devices with the intent to defraud or mislead, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Washington. In June 2021, Philips Respironics initiated a recall for certain CPAP and BiPAP devices due to potential health risks associated with the foam used in the devices for sound abatement. Based on court documents: 

• Between July 2021 and July 2023, Haeger purchased more than 500 used and recalled CPAP and BiPAP devices through online resellers. Haeger and others at his direction would then open the devices, attempt to remove the foam using screw drivers, hooks and other tools, and then put the devices back together. This conduct occurred in locations that were not designed or operated as clean rooms for the purpose of manufacturing medical devices. 
• Haeger and staff at his sleep clinic under supervision would then provide the recalled devices to Washington State Medicaid patients. 
• Staff at the sleep clinic under Haeger’s direction and control would then bill the used, recalled devices to Medicaid with the false and fraudulent representation that they were actually new devices that were in good working order. 

Dr. Haeger is scheduled for a sentencing hearing on March 24, 2026.  The plea agreement can be found here. The case is being investigated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Criminal Investigations, the Washington State Medicaid Fraud Control Division, the Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy J. Kelley.