News
SBA to host CMS, AAHomecare for listening session on competitive bidding program
June 8, 2026HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – The Office of Advocacy within the U.S. Small Business Administration will host a virtual listening session on June 23 on the next round of Medicare’s competitive bidding program (CBP).
The office stated:
CMS believes the rule’s competitive bidding program supports its responsibility to prevent Medicare fraud, waste, and abuse by keeping unqualified providers out of the Medicare program. Advocacy seeks comments on alternative solutions from small business stakeholders.
The...
Lilly’s investigational GLP-1 reduces AHI by up to 36 events per hour in OSA patients
June 8, 2026HME News Staff
INDIANAPOLIS – Eli Lilly, the maker of Zepbound and Foundayo, has announced positive results from Phase 3 trials of retatrutide, an investigational GLP-1, showing substantial weight loss along with meaningful improvements across knee osteoarthritis pain, moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea, and Type 2 diabetes – common obesity-related conditions.
"Obesity drives more than 200 downstream diseases, yet we have historically treated those conditions one at a time and in silos,"...
In brief: VGM’s new collab, Kalogon’s funding, Medline’s milestone
June 5, 2026HME News Staff
WATERLOO, Iowa — VGM & Associates has launched a collaboration with Resmed to help home medical equipment (HME) providers strengthen their sleep therapy programs. By combining VGM’s expanding Total Sleep Services offering with Resmed’s connected sleep health capabilities, the two companies say they create a more connected path from diagnosis to long-term therapy adherence.
The collaboration brings together VGM’s member community and category expertise with Resmed’s...
CMS kicks off bid preparation with non-lead items, bid limits and more
June 5, 2026HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has shared a list of non-lead items and their ratios to lead items in a new bidding calculator on the Competitive Bidding Implementation Contractor (CBIC) website, AAHomecare reports.
The information is part of a large set of shared resources shared on the CBIC website kicking off “Phase 1: Bid Preparation for Round 2028” of the competitive bidding program (CBP).
The resources also include a list of product categories...
Campaign launches to stop bidding for urological, ostomy supplies
June 1, 2026HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – A group of national patient advocacy organizations has launched “The High Cost of Low Bids,” a campaign urging policymakers to stop the inclusion of urological and ostomy supplies in Medicare’s competitive bidding program.
The campaign responds to a decision by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to include these supplies in the CBP, warning that applying a lowest-bid purchasing model to clinically complex, highly individualized products could...
VGM Group adds chief medical officer to shape clinical strategy
June 1, 2026HME News Staff
WATERLOO, Iowa – VGM Group has named M. Kris Srinivasan, MD, MBA, MHSE, as chief medical officer to provide clinical leadership across the company’s non-acute health care businesses.
VGM says Srinivasan will work to advance governance, medical policy oversight and evidence-based standards that support the providers and organizations that the company serves.
“Kris brings a clinician’s perspective and an entrepreneurial mindset that will strengthen how we support members,...
High gas prices squeeze HME providers, but most aren’t adjusting operations – yet
May 29, 2026Liz Beaulieu, Editor
YARMOUTH, Maine – Nearly 80% of respondents to a recent HME Newspoll say high gas prices are having a moderate to significant negative impact on their businesses, putting further pressure on already thin margins.
While prices vary by geography, the national average was $4.42 per gallon at press time, compared to $3.16 a year ago – an increase of nearly 40%, according to AAA.
“Our profit margins were already slim before, so higher fuel costs have further reduced margins, increased...
In brief: Competitive bidding campaign, Sanford Health Equip acquisition, VGM chief medical officer
May 29, 2026HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – A group of national patient advocacy organizations has launched “The High Cost of Low Bids,” a campaign urging policymakers to stop the inclusion of urological and ostomy supplies in Medicare’s competitive bidding program.
The campaign responds to a decision by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to include these supplies in the CBP, warning that applying a lowest-bid purchasing model to clinically complex, highly individualized products could...
In brief: Latest UHC-Synapse deal, Dexcom stolen sensors, WeOxy debut
May 29, 2026HME News Staff
SKOKIE, Ill. – UnitedHealthcare has announced that Synapse Health will manage durable medical equipment (DME) orders for certain UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans in additional states beginning Sept. 1, 2026.
For individual HMO & PPO plans, Synapse Health will manage DME for members in Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
For chronic special needs plans (C-SNP), Synapse...
UHC, Synapse Health expand DME agreement to Northeast
May 28, 2026HME News Staff
SKOKIE, Ill. – UnitedHealthcare has announced that Synapse Health will manage durable medical equipment (DME) orders for certain UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans in additional states beginning Sept. 1, 2026.
For individual HMO & PPO plans, Synapse Health will manage DME for members in Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
For chronic special needs plans (C-SNP), Synapse...