Tag: AAHomecare

ARLINGTON, Va. – AAHomecare’s board of directors has voted in two new members: Jim Nygren, president of VGM Insurance and acquisition and investment manager for VGM Group; and Diane Racicot, vice president of payer relations East Region for National Seating & Mobility. “We are fortunate to add these accomplished professionals to the AAHomecare leadership team and look forward to working with them to strengthen the association and advocate for HME legislative and regulatory priorities,”...

WASHINGTON – Industry stakeholders will keep an eye on CMS as it takes next steps toward a new round of competitive bidding and will act to preserve current guardrails for the program, they say.   CMS on May 25 announced a temporary gap period in the program starting Jan. 1, 2024. Contracts for off-the-shelf back and knee braces for the current round, Round 2021, expire on Dec. 31, 2023.    “It takes 18 months or more to get the bid program up and running and...

WASHINGTON – HME providers in Florida will receive a 7.5% increase to the Medicaid fee schedule, the first in 23 years, AAHomecare reports.  Additionally, the increase must be passed along from managed care organizations (MCOs), which manage 73% of the Medicaid population in the state, to providers.  "This rate bump will protect access to critical home care services and begin to relieve the financial stress on businesses in our industry,” said Crispin Teufel, CEO of Clearwater,...

WASHINGTON – AAHomecare’s strategic priorities survey is live.    The brief survey seeks input from all areas of the home medical equipment sector, including suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, service providers and association executives. It will remain open through May 12.   “Just as our health care system is changing, AAHomecare must evolve to support its wide range of stakeholders,” said Josh Marx, CEO of Medical Service Company and chairman...

ARLINGTON, Va. – AAHomecare has added Alexis Ward as senior director of payer relations effective June 19 to bolster its advocacy capabilities in critical areas. Ward’s background in working with Medicaid authorities, managed care organizations (MCOs) and insurance companies will allow the association to broaden its work toward sustainable reimbursement and robust network access for HME providers among the increasingly important non-Medicare payers, the association says. “We’re...

WASHINGTON – AAHomecare’s strategic priorities survey is live.    The brief survey seeks input from all areas of the home medical equipment sector, including suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, service providers and association executives. It will remain open through May 12.   “Just as our health care system is changing, AAHomecare must evolve to support its wide range of stakeholders,” said Josh Marx, CEO of Medical Service Company and chairman...

WASHINGTON – Industry stakeholders head to the Hill next week armed with new reimbursement relief legislation in the Senate, and they’re angling to have legislation in the House of Representatives, too.  “Our goal was to get (the bill) accomplished in the first four months of the new Senate, so the timing couldn’t be better,” said Tom Ryan, president and CEO of AAHomecare.  AAHomecare is hosting 50 industry stakeholders from around the country in Washington,...

WASHINGTON – Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., have introduced S.1294, a bill that would extend the 75/25 blended Medicare reimbursement rate for suppliers in non-rural, non-competitive bidding areas through the end of 2024.   “This bill would provide an additional measure of relief and stability for non-rural, non-CBA suppliers and also have positive impacts on rates from other payers who are influenced by Medicare rates," said Tom Ryan, AAHomecare president...

WASHINGTON – AAHomecare will launch a survey on May 1 seeking input from a broad group of HME stakeholders to help it set priorities for the next two to three years.   Data from the survey will help guide a comprehensive strategic planning process that began in earnest this March and will include an in-person meeting for the full AAHomecare Board in July.   “Reimbursement models, payer mixes, patient preferences, health care technology and government policies affecting...

WASHINGTON – So many payers don’t understand the day-to-day realities of providing medical supplies that it’s up to the HME industry to tell its story and ensure end users don’t lose access, say stakeholders.  AAHomecare in March launched two nationwide surveys – enteral (enteral nutrition, pumps, kits, and/or supplies) and supplies (wound care, ostomy, and/or urological supplies) – to gather information on the rising costs that providers face.  “If...