Tag: Midwest Association for Medical Equipment & Supplies (MAMES)

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., met with MAMES members in Sioux Falls, S.D., on June 29 to discuss the critical issues facing the HME industry.  Members, as well as executives from AAHomecare and The VGM Group, discussed critical staffing shortages, cost increases and surcharges, flawed reimbursement rates and burdensome documentation requirements.  “Sen. Thune spent an hour listening to MAMES members explain how they were an integral part of the health care...

DULUTH, Minn. – The Midwest Association for Medical Equipment Services & Supplies celebrated 40 years at its conference and exhibition last week in Des Moines, Iowa.   Forty years ago, a supplier named R.D. Dick Herrington sent a letter to Missouri and Kansas suppliers asking to meet and discuss some of the issues facing the HME industry. They met in July and by September they had a certificate of incorporation. Today, that organization is known as MAMES.  “There’s...

MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota’s Department of Human Services should not be able to recoup payments from DME providers for items provided prior to July 1, 2019, as part of the agency’s attempts to become compliant with the 21st Century Cures Act, says MAMES Executive Director Rose Schafhauser. She testified before the state’s Senate Health and Human Services Finance and Policy Committee via Zoom on March 22 on SF 1128, a bill...

MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s 2022-2023 budget recommendations include cuts to DME, according to a bulletin from MAMES. Specifically, the budget proposes changing the Medical Assistance reimbursement formula for durable medical equipment that is also covered by Medicare but is not currently subject to the upper payment limit to the equivalent of the Medicare rate. The state’s Department of Human Services estimates the...

MADISON, Wis. – MAMES requests examples from Michigan-based providers on situations were a prior authorization submitted for a traditionally non-covered item required more information, causing delays in patient access. As of Aug. 1, 2020, Wisconsin Medicaid removed the list of non-covered items from the DME service area of the Online Handbook in accordance with a federal statute. Since then, the MAMES Insurance Committee has been working on issues related to this change and...

DULUTH, Minn. - With its annual events bringing in a “huge chunk” of revenues each year, MAMES has decided to go big with a virtual conference this fall. MAMES opened up its 2020 Midwest Conference & Exhibit Hall, scheduled for Oct. 6-9, to other associations and so far 13 covering at least 28 states have signed on. “If a state association wants to be part of it, we'll give them a stipend for every one of their member companies that registers,” said Rose...

YARMOUTH, Maine - Rose Schafhauser and Beth Bowen both manage multiple state and regional HME associations and had to cancel popular events in the spring due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was a difficult decision, but soon after, Schafhauser and Bowen were consumed with being a clearinghouse for COVID-19 information in multiple states. Here's some of what they were experiencing in late March. Essential businesses With different states taking different approaches to business closures,...

DULUTH, Minn. - Midwest Association for Medical Equipment & Supplies (MAMES) members looking to talk shop with fellow providers can now join the newly minted Provider, Owner, Executive Management (POEM) Committee.“It's basically a networking committee,” said Rick Adamich, POEM Committee chairperson and president of Waukesha, Wis.-based Oxygen One. “We wanted to create a place for our members involved in executive level management to network and share things in a safe, confidential...

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has released budget recommendations for 2020 and 2021 that include reimbursement cuts for DME, MAMES reports. Walz proposes changing “the medical assistance reimbursement formula for durable medical equipment that is also covered by Medicare to pay equivalent to the Medicare rate�This would reduce payment for DME starting in FY 2019 and reduce the value of recoveries in the forecast starting in FY 2021.” Walz also proposes simplifying reimbursement for products...

SAINT PAUL, Minn. - A meeting in early February between HME stakeholders and Minnesota Medicaid officials on how to comply with a provision in the 21st Century Cures Act that requires Medicaid reimbursement not to exceed Medicare allowables ended in a stalemate. The state had initially sought input from HME stakeholders on its plan to implement a “claw back” for payments stretching back to Jan. 1, 2018. “It was determined that we would no longer discuss Cures for we weren't...