Blog entries

07/09/10 - Unrealistic DME bid rates are half of internet and chain pharmacy sale prices.

Sean Schwighammer — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 04:00:00 +0100

Ten years ago, proponents of Competitive Bidding in DME tried to create an argument that, "You can walk into a Walgreens and buy the same equipment for half of what Medicare purchases it for.

Now with the DMEPOS Bidding program's re-bid rates, the reverse is true.

The old rationale behind the program is no longer the case, as the proposed reimbursement rates Medicare intends to pay the Round One lowest bidders are 50% to 60% lower than what can be purchased from the largest chain Read More...

06/03/10 - Action Alert: Urge your landlord to support HR-3790

Rob Brant — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 12:06:13 +0100

Last month, AMEPA sent out an email asking for members to reach out to various healthcare and business groups and ask that they support HR-3790. Last week was the first time that the bill has not gained support while congress has been in session. Although the majority of the House supports the bill, there is still a lot we can do to persuade Congress that HR-3790 is the right solution to replace the flawed DMEPOS Bidding Program.

One of the most powerful national associations Read More...

03/04/10 - CMS answers why Competitive Bidding is an anti-fraud measure

Rob Brant — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:38:12 +0100

Washington, D.C. - For me, the most impressive part of AAHomecare's Legislative Conference is the open forums they schedule with senior Washington staff and top Medicare officials. This year was no exception as CMS Director Jonathan Blum faced a skeptical crowd, during the "Inside the CMS Luncheon" at the Capital Hilton.

Blum put on his best face as he addressed the group of more than 200 HME providers, manufacturers and industry stakeholders. But unfortunately he must haRead More...

03/04/10 - AAHomecare conference pushes HR-3790 up to 156.

Rob Brant — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:23:12 +0100

The Board of AMEPA, thanks the team at AAHomecare for putting on another fantastic conference. We are pleased that so many providers outside of Round One and Round Two took the time to travel to Washington and participate.

It is imperative that HME providers continue to come to Washington to or engage legislators or in their district offices about our issues. Patrick Dorton of Rational 360, AAH's Public Relations Firm, summed up his presentation by explainRead More...

02/26/10 - In District Days are working, plans for more

Rob Brant — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0100

Two weeks ago AMEPA and CAMPS held the Southern California rally for HR-3790 and already efforts from that event has led to additional co-sponsors for the bill. AMEPA President Rob Brant joined local business owners Jim Leedom (Home Health Equipment and Supplies), Diana Guth (Home Respiratory Care) and Michelle Barton (Confidence First Medical Supplies) at a meeting at Congresswoman Diane Watson's district office in Los Angeles to discuss HR-37Read More...

02/26/10 - 13 legislative offices visited during "Illinois In District Day for HR-3790"

Rob Brant — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0100

Chicago, IL - Over 60 DME owners, employees, manufacturer representatives and Medicare Beneficiaries visited 13 legislative offices during the Illinois In-District Day for HR-3790

The Illinois Association of Medical Equipment Services coordinated their membership and arranged for constituents to attend the meetings with help from AMEPA, The Med Group, VGM Group and Medline.

John Gallagher from VGM, Julie Piriano from Pride MobiRead More...

02/12/10 - Southern California HME providers commit to passing HR-3790

Rob Brant — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 16:04:41 +0100

Buena Park, CA - Over 70 HME Providers, manufacturer's representatives, oxygen patients and other industry advocates attended the Southern California Rally for HR-3790 hosted by AMEPA and the California Association of Medical Product Suppliers (CAMPS).

Rob Brant, AMEPA President, opened the meeting by introducing a member of Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez's (D-Garden Grove, CA) district staff. The conference room erupted into applause as the announcement was made that Congresswoman SancRead More...

02/12/10 - Collecting DME for Haiti

Rob Brant — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:24:07 +0100

Everyone in our the nation has been moved by the crisis in Haiti. The photographs of death and destruction only tell part of the story. The people of Haiti are suffering. Hospitals, doctors offices, nursing homes and alike are gone; much under the rubble.

We as Medial Equipment Providers can help.

All types of equipment is needed in Haiti to help the injured. AMEPA is working with FAHCS to gather equipment to send to Haiti. The Associations are working with medical missions and Read More...

02/12/10 - Update on HR 3790 Repeal of DMEPOS Bidding

Rob Brant — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:23:54 +0100

Since snowstorms shut down Washington, DC this week, there has been no additional activity on HR-3790. The bill now has 140 co-sponsors.

Alabama

Rep. Parker Griffith (D)
Rep. Mike Rogers (R)

Arizona

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D)

California

Rep. Joe Baca (D)
Rep. Brian Bilbray (R)
Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R)
Rep. Sam Farr (D)
Rep. Linda Sanchez (D)

Colorado

Rep. Diane DeGette (D)
Rep. Betsy Markey (D)

CoRead More...

02/02/2010 - Southern California HME Rally for HR-3790

Sean Schwighammer — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:42:47 +0100

It is time to stand-up for our industry. Home Medical Equipment providers are making
their voices heard to support HR 3790, the bill to repeal the DMEPOS bidding program.

If competitive bidding proceeds

90% of area Medicare providers will lose the ability to serve beneficiaries
Hundreds of businesses will close, thousands more Californians will be unemployed
Round 1 reimbursement cuts of over 30% can be implemented throughout California
California insurance companies wiRead More...

01/27/10 - National Community Pharmacy supports HR-3790

Rob Brant — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:54:55 +0100

The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), which represents the owners of more than 22,700 independent community pharmacies, has sent a letter to Congressman Meek offering their full support of HR-3790, the repeal of DMEPOS Competitive Bidding.

The AMEPA Board of Directors greatly appreciates the efforts of AMEPA and NCPA member Bay Street Pharmacy in Sebastian, Florida for initiating this letter of support

The NCPA recently made news in late SeptemberRead More...

01/22/10 - Telemarketing Rule: No answers and No one answering the phone at OIG

Rob Brant — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:29:57 +0100

On January 13, 2009, the Office of the Inspector General released an updated Telemarketing Alert, which described when a provider could and could not solicit a Medicare Beneficiary

The rule states that HME providers may only contact Medicare beneficiaries in three circumstances:

The beneficiary has given written permission to the supplier to make contact by telephone; or
The contact is regarding a covered item that the supplier has already furnished the beneficiary; or
The suppliRead More...

12/23/09 - John Mieras wins 2009 Robert Arado Outstanding Advocate Award

Rob Brant — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Dear Members,

As we approach the end of the year, we at AMEPA have been reflecting upon the past year, all we have accomplished and all we still need to do. This has been an exciting year for us. We testified to a Congressional Subcommittee through our President Robert Brant, we hosted a successful statewide conference, we have been to Washington 5 times to advocate for legislation to repeal competitive bidding, we helped create and manage two state associations FAHCS and TAHCS, and Read More...

12/21/09 - Bid Certifying Statement: No requirement to provide equipment or services.

Rob Brant — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:22:17 +0100

Saturday afternoon, December 19th, 3:00 P.M.

I just finished double checking all of the Form B subsections: Revenue from Product Category, Top HCPCS Codes, Expansion Plan, Bid Sheet, Manufacturer Model Numbers and Summary Page. All that remained was to certify the bid.

The Certification Statement asks that:

I have read the contents of this application.

I have examined the completed application Read More...

12/17/09 - A capacity for juggling weights and bids

Sean Schwighammer — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Round One rebidders have sent a number of questions, trying to understand how capacity and weights impact the DMEPOS bidding program. Reviewing what happened in the original Round One bid, it is clear that some providers placed uneducated "blind bids" that unnecessarily affected items that should not have been lowered.

For example: The 2008 bid program payment amounts for the oxygen contents codes, dropped nearly $17 (From $77 to $60) in many of the CBAs. It made little sense that thosRead More...

12/11/09 - GAO Report: DMEPOS Bidding caused up to 88% reduction in providers

Sean Schwighammer — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Over 4,000 business were removed from Medicare in Round One areas

Earlier this week, the Government Accountability Office released a study on the variety of problems with Round One DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program (CBP). The program ran for two weeks, but was stopped by Congress on July 15, 2008 because of concerns about unqualified bid winners and patient access issues.

For the first time details which Medicare refused to confirm have been made public. Medicare has also acknowRead More...

12/09/09 - Biased and Incomplete GAO Reporting 101

Rob Brant — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Damaging GAO report released as HR-3790 hits 101 co-sponsors

One thing I have learned in the last 2 years about U.S. Government reports is that legislative aids use them to make decisions and they base their decision on the "Page One" summaries. Just two weeks ago I received the following email from a congressional aid in one of the Round One areas.

"The congressman asked that I contact the Congressional Research Service regarding the Competitive Bidding Program. Can you take aRead More...

12/09/09 - Senate considers reducing Medicare eligibilty age to 55

Sean Schwighammer — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Senate version of Healthcare reform has new twists

Last night the Senate announced an agreement with liberal and moderate Democrats that would allow them to gain the necessary votes to pass a Senate Health Care Bill. To the surprise of many, this includes a change to Medicare eligibility. Instead of moving the age of eligibility from 65 years old to 67 of 69 years (to save money), the agreement includes a move to lower the age of eligibility for Medicare benefits to 55 years old. ThisRead More...

11/25/09 - Patient access issues,unemployment highlighted in Wall Street Journal article

Rob Brant — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal published Amy Merrick's article "Oxygen Rules Pinching Patients". This is the first story from a national publication which discusses the scenarios that providers have been warning legislators about for the last 12 months: extened hospital stays because patients were unable to get oxygen equipment and services and unemployment caused by the mass closings of providers in the aftermath of the mandatory accreditation and surety bond requirements.

11/13/09 - Medicare's inadequate response to Oxygen Provider closings, may leave patients ...

Rob Brant — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:00:00 +0100

The recent mass closing of oxygen providers has caused Medicare to release a new policy addressing how patients can obtain oxygen equipment after their oxygen provider files for bankruptcy. However, the new policy would keep a patient waiting in a hospital for days while providers research court documents to find if the patient's previous company filed for bankruptcy and repossessed the patient's oxygen equipment. Then, if the oxygen provider can get the necessary court documents and is williRead More...