Tag: NHIA
NHIA to hold second Payor Summit
May 24, 2023HME News Staff
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The National Home Infusion Association will hold its second annual Payor Summit Aug. 23, 2023, in Dallas. The event is designed to bring together representatives from commercial health insurance plans with home and specialty infusion leaders to discuss opportunities and challenges facing the industry now and in the future. The 2023 summit will focus on helping payers leverage the home and alternate site of care to manage drug spend; improve patient access; improve health equity...
In brief: AdaptHealth settlement, Quipt raise, KabaFusion investment
April 28, 2023HME News Staff
PHILADELPHIA – AdaptHealth will pay $5.3 million to resolve alleged False Claims Act violations for submitting allegedly false claims to federal health care programs for respiratory devices that patients did not need or use, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
The settlement resolves allegations that between 2013 and 2017 AdaptHealth, known at the time as QMES and Tri-County Medical Equipment and Supply, knowingly and willfully billed...
In brief: Homecare Champ, new home infusion code, supplies survey, seat elevation comments
March 24, 2023HME News Staff
DALLAS – Kam Yuricich has been named the 2023 Van Miller Homecare Champion for her achievements as the executive director for OAMES and the Great Lakes Home Medical Equipment Association.
Yuricich will be honored at the Stand Up For Homecare reception at Medtrade in Dallas on Wednesday, March 29.
“Kam is a star and a stalwart for HME,” says Tom Ryan, AAHomecare president and CEO. “She’s brought home bottom-line wins for her members and she’s also...
NHIA secures coding changes to modernize benefit
March 21, 2023HME News Staff
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The National Home Infusion Association has successfully petitioned CMS to secure a new billing code for injectable immunotherapies and revise an existing code to facilitate administration of a wider range of monoclonal antibodies for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
The request is part of a broader effort to modernize the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System used by commercial health plans, including some Medicare Advantage and Medicaid programs, to reimburse...
Infusion report: No matter how you spin it, access has gone down
March 10, 2023Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
WASHINGTON – A new report from CMS is an “indictment” of the agency’s current home infusion benefit, say stakeholders.
The “HIT Monitoring Report, February 2023” shows utilization has remained basically flat over a 26-month study period, despite growing Medicare enrollment, with only 1,250 beneficiaries, on average, receiving Part B home infusion services per quarter.
“We do feel like this is more evidence that CMS’s flawed policy...
In brief: Journey Health buy, Philips complaint count, AI-based HST
February 17, 2023HME News Staff
RICHMOND, Va., and SAN DIEGO – Journey Health & Lifestyle Brands has acquired LifeWalker Mobility Products, the manufacturer and distributor of the UPWalker family of products.
The acquisition, as well as additional growth capital for the combined companies, was funded by Peloton Equity and other existing investors in Journey Health, including Escalate Capital.
“We are excited to bring LifeWalker's revolutionary UPWalker products into the Journey family,”...
NHIA to payers: Establish distinct specialty networks
January 31, 2023HME News Staff
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The National Home Infusion Association (NHIA) has developed recommendations for commercial, Medicaid and Medicare Advantage payers to reduce administrative burdens and remove barriers to accessing certain infusion services. Among NHIA’s eight recommendations, the association encourages payers to establish distinct specialty networks of locally based, full-service infusion providers to offer infused and HCP-administered medications, which will reduce delays in treatment, improve...
Pharmacy organizations criticize Tricare decision
December 7, 2022HME News Staff
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A group of pharmacy organizations, including the National Community Pharmacists Association and the National Home Infusion Association, worry that decisions by Cigna and Express Scripts to eliminate the option for Tricare beneficiaries to obtain prescriptions at their pharmacy of choice will disrupt patient access to needed medications.
In a letter to Amy Bricker, president of Express Scripts, and David Cordani, president and CEO of Cigna, the organizations argued...
In brief: Reimbursement relief, home infusion access, additional consolidation
November 4, 2022HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – VGM Government Relations is urging providers to reach out to Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, asking for the DMEPOS Relief Act of 2022 to be included in an end-of-year package.
Introduced in February, H.R. 6641 would extend a 90/10 blended reimbursement rate for the 13 product categories excluded from Round 2021 of competitive bidding through Dec. 31, 2023. The bill currently has 25 co-sponsors.
“HME suppliers...
In brief: Oxygen NCD, Philips MDRs, Geffert’s new role
May 27, 2022HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – CMS has changed the implementation date of the new oxygen national coverage determination from Jun 14, 2022, to Jan. 3, 2023.
“This change only extends the implementation date to Jan. 1, 2023,” AAHomecare stated in a bulletin. “The new oxygen NCD coverage expansion will still be retroactively effective to claims with a date of service on or after Sept. 27, 2021.”
The new oxygen NCD, among other things, expands access for acute conditions...