Tag: Cost

WATERLOO, Iowa – The cost of delivering home medical equipment continues to rise, according to the results of a new survey from VGM & Associates.  The survey of nearly 100 HME providers in eight regions of the U.S. looked at the increase in cost of goods, employee wages and freight, as well as cost of delivery per mile, PPE and average wages.   “While I suspected the various costs and related factors in securing appropriate HME delivery services would increase –...

WATERLOO, Iowa – The cost of delivering home medical equipment has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the results of new survey from VGM.   The survey of nearly 100 medical equipment providers in eight regions of the U.S. looked at vehicle cost per trip; PPE expense; labor expense per hour; and time of travel, equipment set-up and instruction, and equipment pickup.  In the Great Lakes region, for example, the average delivery...

DENVER - Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has signed a new law that caps co-payments for prescription insulin to $100 a month for insured patients, regardless of the amount or type of drug needed. The law also directs the state's attorney general to investigate pricing of insulin drugs and determine whether or not additional consumer protections are needed. Colorado is the first state to enact such a law, according to news reports. Almost 20,000 Coloradans are diagnosed with diabetes each year and as of...

WATERLOO, Iowa - The VGM Group has released the results of a “Delivery Cost Survey” that puts into perspective how costly it is for HME providers to provide patients with the necessary equipment. In New England, for example, providers report that it costs them $22.43 in vehicle costs per delivery and $18 in labor costs per hour, according to the survey. When you take into account the 23.33 miles from business to home and the 31.67 minutes it takes for in-home set up, that's an...

WATERLOO, Iowa - U.S. Rehab, a division of the VGM Group, has released a white paper analyzing the current state of the DME industry. The paper, “The Delivery of DMEPOS is in Jeopardy,” provides a data-driven perspective on the adverse effects of competitive bidding on both patients and providers of DME, complex rehab and O&P. “If the current issues with reimbursement are not addressed, irreparable harm will be done to this delivery system,” said Greg Packer, president of...

WASHINGTON - Medicare reimbursement rates cover, on average, only 88% of overall costs for companies providing HME products and services, according to a new study released yesterday by AAHomecare. The study, “Analysis of the Cost of Providing Durable Medical Equipment to the Medicare Population: Measuring the Impact of Competitive Bidding,” was conducted by Dobson DaVanzo & Associates and raises serious concerns about the current Medicare payment model, researchers say. “The...

Back in 1999, as an industry consultant, I wrote a special report for HME News called “Lessons from Polk County.” In 2001, I left home care to re-enter the hospital world. But in May of 2011, I returned to home care as director of procurement at Univita Health, where I served until October of 2014. In January of this year, I re-entered the consulting world through my company Valumatrix, LLC. Today, I see DME companies as heroes in health care who help patients live independently in their...

WATERLOO, Iowa - The VGM Group has created a delivery cost calculator to help show Congress and CMS that rural areas will take a significant hit in 2016 if competitive bidding pricing is applied nationwide. VGM is asking HME providers to fill out and submit delivery cost calculator forms. The group will file the data it receives by state and send it to the appropriate members of Congress. Questions that VGM hopes to answer with the data include: Does CMS realize how much it costs to deliver medical...

SAN DIEGO and BREA, Calif. - An International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled July 18 that the humidifier in Apex Medical's iCH CPAP device infringes on ResMed patents, according to a press release from ResMed. Apex Medical had argued that it had redesigned the humidifier so that it no longer infringed on ResMed patents, the release states. “As a result, Apex should continue to be banned from selling the iCH humidifier in the United States,” ResMed states in the release. In its own press...

SAN DIEGO - Testing for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and initiating treatment with an APAP device at home vs. in a lab reduces costs and doesn't negatively impact clinical outcomes, according to a new study. The study, presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference, May 16-21, in San Diego, enrolled 296 subjects, with roughly half beginning CPAP at home and the other half in a lab. Researchers found the cost of home testing was significantly lower than the cost of lab testing...