Tag: Audit Reform

WASHINGTON - It's game time for the HME industry, with stakeholders expecting a bill to “fix” the nationwide expansion of bid pricing to drop in the next few weeks.“We've got a very small window,” said Tom Ryan, president and CEO of AAHomecare. “Our providers across rural America have been very vocal this summer. (They don't want to) wake up to see an overnight decrease of 45%.”The bill, drafted by Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., would provide a 30% increase in reimbursement...

WASHINGTON - Industry stakeholders say, despite slow progress, the reintroduction of an audit reform bill is still a “high priority.”They had hoped to see Rep. Renee Ellmers, R-N.C., drop the bill this spring.“Obviously, we wanted it sooner than this,” said Beth Bowen, executive director of the North Carolina Association of Medical Equipment Services, who's been working with Ellmers on the bill. “It's still in the works, still a high priority.”The hold up? At least...

WASHINGTON - The Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday will mark up a proposed bill to improve the Medicare audit and appeals process.The bill, the “Audit and Appeal Fairness, Integrity and Reforms in Medicare Act” or AFIRM Act, was co-authored by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the committee, and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., ranking member.“Increased Medicare payment appeals from a range of Medicare providers and suppliers has resulted in a substantial backlog, causing financial...

WASHINGTON - AAHomecare has launched FixMedicareAudits.org to serve as one-stop shop for audit reform, the association announced this week. The cornerstone of the new site: H.R. 5083, The Audit Improvement and Reform Act (AIR Act), which was introduced by Rep. Renee Ellmers, R-N.C., on July 11. “The new site will serve as a rallying point for the HME community to come together in support of the AIR Act, which will apply common sense fixes to one of the most pressing challenges facing our industry...

WASHINGTON - Reps. Renee Ellmers, R-N.C., and John Barrow, D-Ga., introduced a bill on Friday afternoon to reform Medicare's audit program for HME.H.R. 5083, the Audit Improvement and Reform Act (AIR Act), would require the MACs, RACs and other contractors performing audits to, among other things, reinstate clinical inference and judgment to reduce error rates. In 2009, when this practice was dropped, the error rate for HME skyrocketed from less than 10% of claims to more than 60% of claims, says...