Tag: National Coverage Determination (NCD)
In brief: Push for timeline, win for knee orthoses, results for Apnimed
July 30, 2025HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – AAHomecare, the COPD Foundation, the Council for Quality Respiratory Care and VGM Government Relations have formally requested that CMS establish a clear implementation timeline for the new national coverage determination for non-invasive positive pressure ventilation.
In a letter sent July 23, the groups asked CMS to delay implementation until at least one year after the NCD’s publication date of June 9.
“Adopting a clear implementation glidepath...
Industry urges CMS to set clear timeline for NIPPV coverage changes
July 28, 2025HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – Four major health care organizations—AAHomecare, the COPD Foundation, the Council for Quality Respiratory Care, and VGM Government Relations—have formally requested that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) establish a clear implementation timeline for the new national coverage determination (NCD) for non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV).
In a letter sent July 23, the groups asked CMS to delay implementation until at least one year...
Win for patients, challenges for suppliers in new vent policy
June 20, 2025Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
WASHINGTON – The final national coverage determination (NCD) for noninvasive home mechanical ventilators (HMV) and respiratory assist devices (RADs) will make it easier for patients to access therapy but impose some additional requirements on HME providers, say industry stakeholders.
Released June 9, the final NCD provides coverage of RADs for the treatment of chronic respiratory failure that often accompanies COPD and establishes coverage for HMVs for the treatment of COPD.
“This...
CMS releases final NCD for non-invasive ventilation
June 9, 2025HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – CMS has released a final national coverage determination (NCD) for non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) in the home for the treatment of chronic respiratory failure consequent to COPD.
The final NCD:
Provides coverage of respiratory assist devices (RADs) for the treatment of chronic respiratory failure that often accompanies COPD; and
For the first time, establishes coverage for home mechanical ventilation for patients with COPD.
For...
Senators ask CMS to reconsider ‘in-the-home' requirement
September 18, 2023HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Bob Casey, D-Pa., and Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., are asking CMS to conduct a full review of its national coverage determination (NCD) for mobility assistive equipment for Medicare beneficiaries, including its interpretation of the “in-the-home" requirement.
Current Medicare coverage limitations on equipment used outside the home can limit a beneficiary’s access to mobility equipment and their communities,...
Disruption, innovation and growth in first half of 2023
July 18, 2023Liz Beaulieu, Editor
We’ve burned through the first half of 2023 already and what do we have to show for it?
If the most read stories from January through June are any indication, it’s disruption, innovation and growth.
Let’s start with disruption. It has come in a number of forms in 2023, including one of the HME industry’s legacy manufacturers, Invacare, filing for bankruptcy. We posted a story about that to our website in February, and it remains the most read story of the...
CMS finalizes coverage for seat elevation systems
May 16, 2023HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – CMS late on Tuesday posted a final benefit category determination and national coverage decision for seat elevation systems as an accessory to power wheelchairs.
Effective immediately, seat elevation for Medicare-covered power wheelchairs is now considered a clinically meaningful benefit to people with Medicare who perform transfers from power wheelchairs or use the chair for mobility related activities of daily living, such as dressing, grooming, toiletry, feeding and...
CMS opens NCD for seat elevation
August 16, 2022HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – CMS has opened the National Coverage Determination for seat elevation systems used with power wheelchairs, but the agency is not reconsidering coverage for power standing systems at this time.
CMS said in May it would commit to re-opening the NCD, nearly two years after the ITEM Coalition submitted a formal request to reconsider the NCD for mobility assistive equipment to include coverage for these systems.
“Now is the time for Medicare – the...
Oxygen sign-on letter heads to CMS
August 11, 2022HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – Twenty two members of the House of Representatives have asked CMS to streamline documentation for home oxygen therapy, AAHomecare reports. A sign-on letter spearheaded by Reps. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., and Larry Bucshon, R-Ind., requests that CMS: “Use the opportunity of expanding the current National Coverage Determination for oxygen to establish a clear set of criteria to support medical necessity and instruct the contractors to rely solely on the Standard Written Order...
Complex rehab update: What is the delay?
May 20, 2022Liz Beaulieu, Editor
WASHINGTON – Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Rep. Jim Langevin, R-R.I., each had calls with CMS officials this month to stress the need for the agency to take the next step in reconsidering the national coverage determination for mobility assistive equipment to include seat elevation and standing systems.
Last fall, Duckworth and Langevin orchestrated letters in the Senate and House, respectively, asking CMS to seek public comment on the ITEM Coalition’s request to reconsider...