Tag: Minnesota Medicaid

MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s 2022-2023 budget recommendations include cuts to DME, according to a bulletin from MAMES. Specifically, the budget proposes changing the Medical Assistance reimbursement formula for durable medical equipment that is also covered by Medicare but is not currently subject to the upper payment limit to the equivalent of the Medicare rate. The state’s Department of Human Services estimates the...

SAINT PAUL, Minn. - A meeting in early February between HME stakeholders and Minnesota Medicaid officials on how to comply with a provision in the 21st Century Cures Act that requires Medicaid reimbursement not to exceed Medicare allowables ended in a stalemate.The state had initially sought input from HME stakeholders on its plan to implement a “claw back” for payments stretching back to Jan. 1, 2018.“It was determined that we would no longer discuss Cures for we weren't getting...

ST. PAUL, Minn. - A bill that would repeal Minnesota Medicaid's preferred provider program for incontinence supplies was introduced Jan. 24 in the state senate. SF 491 is similar to a bill that was passed as part of an omnibus bill in 2018 but that was ultimately vetoed by the governor. In August 2018, MAMES obtained a temporary restraining order to delay the state's plans to create a preferred provider program that would award a single contract to provide the supplies. Also at issue: the reimbursement...

SAINT PAUL, Minn. - Minnesota Medicaid in February reversed a decision that would have taken 2% of nearly every Medicaid dollar paid to HME providers during the federal sequestration period.The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) in late December had announced that the state must apply the 2% sequestration cut to Medicare payments to Medicaid payments from April 1, 2013, to April 1, 2014, to comply with state law.In response, the Midwest Association for Medical Equipment Services (MAMES)...

SAINT PAUL, Minn. - With the pricing for Round 2 of competitive bidding sending reverberations throughout various payer circles, nowhere is the threat possibly more powerful than one state Medicaid program.While most states have some flexibility, in Minnesota, the pricing for Medicaid is “locked in” to the pricing for Medicare. So when the pricing for Medicare was reduced, on average, 45%, on July 1 as part of the program, the hands of state officials were pretty much tied, says Rose...