Tag: test strips
RAC to audit test strips
June 18, 2019HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - Performant, the national RAC for DME, received approval from CMS on June 14 to audit blood glucose test strips (A4253) nationwide.“The quantity of glucose test strips that are covered depends upon the usual medical needs of the diabetic patient,” reads an announcement on the RAC's website. “Documentation will be reviewed to determine if the utilization guidelines for glucose test strips were met.”The RAC will be reviewing claims that have a “claim paid date”...
Roche sues pharmacy network
March 22, 2019HME News Staff
NEW YORK - Roche Diagnostics has filed a lawsuit against the former executives of a Utah-based company, alleging nationwide fraud involving test strips.According to the lawsuit, filed March 19 in United States District Court in New Jersey, Alliance Medical Holdings and its former officers and directors conspired to obtain Roche's not-for-retail test strip brands meant for the mail-order market and dispense them to the retail market.Alliance then allegedly billed the insurance companies for retail...
Shutdown and HME: StripSupply offers free diabetes testing supplies
January 23, 2019HME News Staff
BOSTON - StripSupply will be waiving monthly subscription fees for both diabetes test strips and lancets for federal employees affected by the government shutdown. The company says with one in 10 people living with diabetes and with the cost of supplies often more than $500 out-of-pocket per month, “StripSupply does not wish for any federal employees living with diabetes to suffer from any additional stress, while they attempt to maintain their physical health and to cover expenses for housing...
OIG: Handful of strips dominated Medicare mail-order market
January 16, 2019HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - The top two strips accounted for 53% of the Medicare mail-order market, and the top 10 strips accounted for 98% of the market, according to a new report from the Office of Inspector General.Overall, suppliers in Medicare's national mail-order program provided 17 types of test strips during the three-month period between April 1, 2018, and June 30, 2018, the OIG found.To conduct the report, the OIG sampled 1,210 claims from a population of 313,704 claims.Suppliers must comply with a rule...
StripSupply secures funding
June 27, 2018HME News Staff
BOSTON - StripSupply has secured seed round funding led by LaunchByte Ventures, alongside a group of serial entrepreneurs, physicians and angel investors. StripSupply, which seeks to disrupt the $11 billion glucose test strip market, provides FDA-approved strips on a subscription basis for up to 85% less than major retail pharmacies, it says. “The retail price for diabetic test strips at major pharmacies can be more than $100 for a 50-count vial; however, the manufacturing cost doesn't typically...
Roche sues pharmacies, supply companies
March 31, 2017HME News Staff
INDIANAPOLIS - Roche Diagnostics and Roche Diabetes Care have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Indianapolis, claiming they have wrongfully paid millions of dollars in rebates and lost millions of dollars in legitimate sales for blood glucose test strips at the hands of an alleged scheme by six pharmacies and medical supply companies. The lawsuit charges the pharmacies and medical supply companies with allegedly obtaining test strips from Roche that were intended for reimbursement under...
In brief: Philips buys pharmacy sleep services provider, Roche sues over alleged rebate scheme
March 31, 2017HME News Staff
AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands, and SYDNEY - Royal Philips has signed an agreement to buy Australian Pharmacy Sleep Services, in a move that the company says will accelerate its home sleep testing offering through the pharmacy channel in Australia.“With the addition of APSS to our sleep and respiratory care business in Australia, Philips will be able to provide better access to home sleep testing for those who need it, where and when they need it,” said Kevin Barrow, managing director at...
Reports point to mounting evidence of brand shakeup for diabetes supplies
June 27, 2014Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
WASHINGTON - Medicare's mail-order program for diabetes supplies has had a dramatic impact on the market, as evidenced by a pair of recent reports from the Office of Inspector General (OIG).“This is a rough look at what's available in the marketplace and it doesn't represent what was available in the marketplace prior to bidding,” said Andrea Bergman, a vice president with McDermott+Consulting, the lobbying subsidiary of a law firm that represents the Diabetes Access to Care Coalition.The...
Mail-order program: OIG provides CMS with before, after picture
June 24, 2014HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - How has the national mail-order program for diabetes supplies affected brand choice?CMS now has a before and after picture thanks to the Office of Inspector General (OIG).The OIG published this week the results of a study to determine the market shares of test strips for the three-month period prior to the start date of the program on July 1, 2013. It found:. Two types of strips accounted for about 34% of the Medicare mail-order market share;. Four types of strips accounted for 51%;...
In brief: Lawmakers try to put brakes on bid expansion, contractors warn docs of DME scams
March 21, 2014HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - Reps. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., and Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, are spearheading a congressional sign-on letter urging CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner not to expand competitive bidding until the Office of Inspector General (OIG) has completed its investigation into the program, according to AAHomecare. “It's no secret that policymakers on both sides of the aisle see the controversial national bidding program as an unacceptable burden on the elderly and disabled,” stated Tom Ryan,...