Page 8 - HME Business, November 2017

News / Trends / Analysis
Rural Bid Relief Bill to
Debut in Early November Lobby Congress
Legislation would remedy not only national bid expansion, but the oxygen ‘double-dip,’ as well.
on Behalf of H.R. 3730
At press time, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) was working with Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa) to develop legislation that would provide relief to rural and non-bid areas that had been impacted by the national expan- sion of competitive bidding, as well as rectify the “double-dip” cuts on oxygen.
The legislation has two key thrusts:
• It would effectively roll back the second round of
cuts for non-bid area suppliers, effective retroac-
tively to January 1, 2017 and through 2018.
• It would address rate cuts caused by the misap-
plication of a 2006 budget neutrality offset balancing increased utilization for oxygen gener- ating portable equipment with lower reimburse- ment for stationary equipment.
Letter calls on lawmakers to support
legislation that would protect manual
71% of MAC Prepayment Audits Paid After Review
Second Quarter Audit Key survey releases several significant findings related to Medicare claims audits.
Seventy-one percent of MAC prepayment audits are paid upon review, according to the Second Quarter HME Audit Key survey, which the American Association for Homecare has just released.
Other interesting findings:
• 11 percent of new patients are subject to MAC audits
• 93 percent of power mobility devices MAC
prepayment audits are paid upon review
• 70 percent of completed appeal determinations for
respiratory products were in favor of suppliers
• 26 percent of new patients for hospital beds,
support surfaces, and manual wheelchairs were
subject to MAC audits
• 94 percent of SMRC respiratory audits were
targeted at large suppliers
The survey, is used to better understand the audit pressures HME providers undergo as a result of CMS’s various audit programs. Results from
the survey are collected into summary reports
that the industry users to advance legislation that would rein in CMS’s Medicare program audits.The program is also used to help providers see how their audit experiences are stacking up against other providers.
Bearing that in mind, AAHomecare noted in a public statement that more providers must get involved in the Audit Key program when it returns to conduct its next survey.
“While the results from the HME Audit Key is bringing some light to the burdensome nature of Medicare’s audit and appeals program, we need more industry participation to be able to use this data to make our case to CMS and Capitol Hill,” AAHomecare noted in the statement. “Please support this effort by participating in the next round.” n
Rep. McMorris Rodgers intends to introduce
the bill in the first week of November and has CRT chair accessories from competitive
asked the American Association for Homecare and other HME industry advocates to lobby lawmakers in order to attract a large number
of original co-sponsors for the bill. To that end, congressional offices interested in signing on the bill can contact Rep. McMorris Rodgers’ staff for more information .
AAHomecare is providing Issue briefs to help provider advocates in their conversations with lawmakers and staff. Available at aahomecare.org, the briefs address the two different components of the bill — rural relief and double-dip — but point to the singular bill as the mechanism
for reform. n
bid pricing.
Thirty-two national consumer and clinician organizations signed a letter from The ITEM Coalition urging congress to pass H.R. 3730, the bill that would protect CRT manual wheelchair accessories from competitive bid pricing.
The letter was sent to House leadership and to the leaders of the Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce Committees. A copy is available for downloading at www.protectmymobility.org, as well as links to email and phone members of congress.
“This is a great sign of consumer and clini-
cian support for the CRT Manual Wheelchair Accessories fix,” said Don Clayback, executive director of the National Coalition for Assistive & Rehab Technology (NCART). “We are sharing with CRT stakeholders and encouraging people to share with their members in the quest to secure cosponsors for the House bill.”
Introduced into the House in early September by Reps. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) and John Larson (D-Conn.), H.R. 3730 had attracted 42 co-sponsors at press time. The language of the bill is available at http://bit.ly/2h59bxP. n
Consumer Groups
UPCOMING COVERAGE
More industry intelligence is available at hme-business.com.
Developing Stories — Watch HME-Business
and subscribe to e-Source during November to monitor the industry’s push to advance legislation to protect manual CRT accessories and to reform the national bid expansion in order to protect rural providers and patients.
e-Source — Sign up for our weekly e-newsletter, e-Source, to ensure you stay up to date on the latest industry news, trends and developments. You can enter your email address on the hme-business. com homepage to subscribe.
To get more data, visit the complete 2Q 2017 report at http://bit.ly/2z0Ks5L.
8 HMEBusiness | November 2017 | hme-business.com
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