Page 12 - HME Business, June 2017

News / Trends / Analysis
CMS Eases Adjudication Process
Georgia’s DME Licensure Bill Becomes Law
Years-long advocacy, legislative effort culminates with Gov. Nathan Deal signing SB41 into law.
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal
has signed SB 41 into law, which now means that any business wishing to provide DME in the Peach State must first have a physical location and obtain a state license to do so.
The passage of SB 41 comes after a multi-
year push by the Georgia Association of Medical Equipment Suppliers (GAMES) and its allies in the
See Georgia’s DME Licensure continued on page 13
Continued from page 10
suppliers to continually resubmit evidence.
• CMS instructed the DME MACs to perform data analysis of all favorable serial claim appeal decisions made over the past three years, in an
effort to capture all currently pending appeals
in the series that could be included in this initia- tive. Suppliers do not need to take any action and should not reach out to the DME MAC within their jurisdiction to request that their appeal be consid- ered for this initiative. n
CRT Stakeholders Take Their
Message to Congress
Wide range of CRT advocates from across the country back legislation to protect CRT on Capitol Hill.
More than 150 complex rehab tech- nology (CRT) stakeholders traveled to Arlington, Va. to attend the 2017 National CRT Leadership and Advocacy Conference in late April to meet with advocate on behalf of protecting patients’ access to CRT devices and accessories.
Jointly held by the National Coalition for Assistive and Rehab Technology (NCART) and the National Registry of Rehabilitation Technology Suppliers (NRRTS), the event attendees took in educational opportunities, networked, and engaged members of Congress in Washington, D.C. to explain why CRT access. needed to be protected.
Attendees from 35 states represented all sectors of the CRT community: providers, manu- facturers, users, consumer organizations, clini- cians, clinical organizations, family and caregivers and researchers. Notably, 35 attendees were CRT wheelchair users.
The April 26 educational day featured a panel presentation from D.C. legislative veterans from the National Health Council and Washington Council Ernst & Young about the issues, options, and poli- tics in Washington regarding healthcare policy.
The conference’s dedicated Capitol Hill Day, April 27, resulted in visits to 245 Congressional offices, and NCART reported that “... initial reports are positive and indicate strong Congressional awareness and support for the pending CRT legis- lation. Advocates will now move to follow-up activi- ties during the upcoming weeks.”
Bearing that in mind, CRT stakeholders that were unable to attend the conference can still email and call their members of Congress using links and information at www.protectmymobility.org.
NCART underscored the urgent need for lawmakers to co-sponsor and pass the Protecting Beneficiary Access to Complex Rehab Technology Act of 2017 (H.R. 1361 and S. 486). In order to stop major July 1 Medicare inappropriately applying Competitive Bidding Program informa- tion to generate payment cuts to CRT wheelchair
accessories, the legislation must be passed by June 30.
“This type of event has never been more impor- tant given all that’s going on in the CRT world,” said Weesie Walker, executive director of NRRTS. “Particularly the push to get critical legislation passed to stop the major July 1 Medicare cuts
to CRT Wheelchair Accessories and to create a Separate Benefit Category for CRT within the Medicare program. We want this National CRT Leadership and Advocacy Conference to continue to serve as a catalyst for more effective informa- tion sharing, collaboration, and advocacy.”
Another legislative objective was to encourage lawmakers to to co-sponsor and pass the Ensuring Access to Quality Complex Rehab Technology Act (H.R. 750), which aims to establish a separate benefit category for CRT within Medicare.
“We have been making significant progress
on moving our CRT legislation ahead in 2015 and 2016 and these Washington activities played a major role,” said Don Clayback, executive director of NCART. “Nothing sends a stronger message then a visit to their D.C. offices and with good follow up we’ll be securing additional cosponsors and get these bills passed.”
Sailing Underscores CRT’s Crucial Role
A highlight was the day’s featured presentation form Steve Saling, founder of advocacy and fund- raising organization The ALS Residence Initiative (ALSRI) and a nationally recognized champion for accessible residential environments and assistive technology for people with disabilities.
Telling attendees that “Failure is not an option” when it comes to protecting complex rehab tech- nology, Sailing shared his personal story of being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and how he has come to depend on CRT
in his daily life. Moreover, he underscored why attendees must protect patients’ access to those life-changing devices and accessories.
A complete video of the powerful address from ALS patient and founder of the ALS Residence Initiative Steve Saling at the National CRT Leadership and Advocacy Conference can be found at youtu.be/2xxJxCoNKbU or bit.ly/2qsDfKC.
Sailing, a landscape architect who once designed parks for people with disabilities, has had ALS for 11 years. He described how the disease not only changed his life, but how CRT innovations and other technologies have helped him continue living life as a valuable, productive member of society. He added that as his diseases has progressed, those technologies have helped him meet those new challenges.
However, he noted how those innovations are under constant threat of CMS budget cutting, and urged the conference’s attendees to drive home the point that CRT benefits and indispensable in their meetings with lawmakers.
“I am constantly fine tuning the position of my chair to keep my head in the sweet spot where
my head can comfortably and confidently navi- gate my wheelchair and my computer,” Sailing told the audience. “You can understand why it infuri- ates me that some bean counter at CMS is trying to save money by taking away critical tools. I am not a bean to be counted. I am a real person who will suffer terribly if the tools provided me to live
a vital and productive life are taken away. They tried once before to take computers away from the people who need them most. We rallied and Congress listened. It is time to rally again.
“My disability may be severe but that is why
I need more access to technology, not less,” he added. “I feel so blessed to live in an age when technology can literally open doors for me.” n
12 HMEBusiness | June 2017 | hme-business.com
Management Solutions | Technology | Products
Image: Steve Sailing