Tag: Bid Expansion

WASHINGTON - Stakeholders say the HME industry's “work has just begun” now that a bill aimed at softening the blow of competitive bidding has finally been introduced in the Senate.The provisions in S. 2312, introduced by Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., on Nov. 19, include a 30% increase to rural single payment amounts for providers in rural areas, and a 20% increase to regional SPAs for providers in all other non-bid areas.“It's time to start running,”...

BOZEMAN, Mont. - The impact of audits and competitive bidding on rural providers was on the agenda at a roundtable held by the Small Business Administration yesterday. HME providers and other stakeholders attended the roundtable discussion on Regulatory Enforcement Fairness and hosted by Brian Castro, SBA national ombudsman. “These unreasonable and excessive audits from CMS are crippling to durable medical equipment providers in Montana,” said Andrew Jeske, CEO of American Seating...

WASHINGTON - With legislation to modify the national rollout of competitive bidding in the works, industry stakeholders are setting the stage for a full court press. But there's only so much they can do until they have a “score” from the Congressional Budget Office, they say. “We'll begin a full grassroots push, which we've lined up,” said Tom Ryan, president and CEO of AAHomecare. “We can work the committees and we can work the grassroots angle, but...

WASHINGTON - CMS plans to move forward with its plans to implement competitive bid pricing nationwide, despite widespread opposition from the HME industry. “This is a big deal,” said Kim Brummett, senior director of regulatory affairs for AAHomecare. The agency issued its final rule Oct. 31. The proposed rule was published in July. The biggest concern: the application of bid rates in non-competitive bidding areas (CBAs), beginning Jan. 1, 2016 and phased-in over a six-month time...

WASHINGTON - Industry stakeholders say a large number of providers answered the call to submit comments by Sept. 2 on a proposed rule to, among other things, expand the competitive bidding program nationwide.More than 4,000 comments were submitted on the overall rule, and stakeholders believe a good number of them pertained to the bid expansion and another HME provision to create bundled monthly payments.“The feedback we've gotten from providers spoke to rural healthcare access,” said...