Discussion Forum

Editor’s Note:  CMS’ proposed regulatory reform rule is attached below.

From: HME News

The silver lining: Proposed rule opens door for stakeholders to have further discussions with CMS

By Liz Beaulieu, Editor

WASHINGTON – It seemed promising last week, when CMS published a proposed rule that outlines a number of steps to reduce regulatory burdens on healthcare providers. The agency’s press release even named DME providers specifically.

CMS stated in a release that its “Medicare Regulatory Reform” rule “would identify and begin to eliminate duplicative, overlapping, outdated and conflicting regulatory requirements for healthcare providers and suppliers…including durable medical equipment suppliers.”

“This is a call to tell you I do not approve of this competitive bidding bill y’all are trying to push through or have pushed through. This is supposed to be the United States of America:  freedom-of-choice. I don’t think this is part of the bill we bargained for when we pay for Medicare to be withheld from our checks for years and years and years or for Medicare assistance, so I just wanted to let … Continue Reading

From: HME News

MedPac wants expansion, lawmakers want review, CMS releases updated tools By Liz Beaulieu, Editor WASHINGTON – The Medicare Payment Advisory Committee (MedPac) voted last week to recommend that Congress repeal the current system used to set the physician fee schedule and pay for it with a mix of cuts to other providers, including HME providers.

MedPac in September released a draft list of offsets that included “apply the competitive bidding offset to all competition-eligible DME categories starting in 2012” for $2 billion in savings over 10 years, and “apply the competitive bidding offset to the DME categories never subject … Continue Reading

Editor’s Note: Minimally burdensome technologies are superior fraud-fighting strategies compared to mechansims which harm competition and patient choice such as CMS’ deeply-flawed concept of competitive bidding.

From: Information Week

By Ken Terry

The CMS pilot is being conducted by National Government Services (NGS), a WellPoint unit that is the Part B Medicare carrier for Indiana. The 12-month test, which began in July, focuses on durable medical equipment (DME), but could be expanded to other healthcare products and services if it proves successful.

Providers who voluntarily participate in the pilot swipe a special card through their credit-card … Continue Reading