Archive: April 2005
CMS wronged Maximum Comfort
April 30, 2005HME News Staff
REDDING, Calif. -- A federal judge in March issued a final ruling that CMS had been wrong to demand that Tom Lambert repay Medicare $600,000 for not supplying documentation beyond the CMN to prove medical necessity for power wheelchair claims.
In his ruling, the U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Karlton wrote: "any medical necessity information required from medical equipment suppliers may be submitted to the Secretary only by way of a Certificate of Medical Necessity, and not by other means, such...
Web retailer tests HME's waters
April 30, 2005HME News Staff
SEATTLE -- Over the past year, one of the nation's largest retailers has gingerly tested the waters of the HME market. Amazon.com, a giant in Internet-based retail shopping, a year ago launched a Health and Personal Care store that now sells thousands of medical supplies and equipment products.
Amazon's Medical Supplies and Equipment store, a division of Health and Personal Care, is made up of six categories: health monitors, braces and supports, tests, daily living aids, mobility aids and equipment...
Here comes AdvanceMed
April 30, 2005HME News Staff
Editor's Note: This column is the first in a series co-written by all four DMERC medical directors. Look for this column in a new home next month on our editorial pages.
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Q. I recently received a development letter from AdvanceMed requesting documentation on a claim I submitted to the DMERC. Who is AdvanceMed, and why are they asking for this information?
A. AdvanceMed is a Comprehensive Error Rate Test (CERT) contractor. CERT is a program used by CMS to monitor the Claims Payment Error Rate....
From Baghdad to rehab
April 30, 2005HME News Staff
EXETER, Pa. -- The U.S. military activated two armored regiments of the Pennsylvania National Guard last year and moved several Pride Mobility employees from the front lines of wheelchair and scooter production to the front lines of the war in Iraq. When that happened, Dan Meuser knew his e-mail in-box could very well carry dire news about his company's human resources.
So the president of Pride Mobility Products had no idea what to expect when he opened an e-mail from one of his employees in the...
Permobil rehabs... a house
April 30, 2005HME News Staff
LEBANON, Tenn. -- Permobil has renovated a 5,000-square-foot ranch home near its corporate headquarters as a home away from home for the 10-15 dealer groups it cycles through annually.
In the past, Permobil hosted its customers at downtown Nashville hotels.
"We wanted to have an environment that's more like a home, so we bought a home," said Barry Steelman, Permobil's director of marketing. "We'll have meals cooked in the house, and there's a swimming pool out back."
Permobil was inspired to...
Houston doctor pleads guilty to power chair scam
April 30, 2005HME News Staff
HOUSTON -- A doctor here pleaded guilty to fraudulently billing Medicare for $30 million by selling certificates of medical necessity and prescriptions for power chairs and other DME, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas. Dr. Callie Herpin said at a hearing that she and an accomplice sold CMNs for about $200, wrote more than 920 fraudulent orders and received $184,000 in return. Herpin also admitted she did not examine many of the patients to determine their...
CMS keeps ASP drug pricing stable
April 30, 2005HME News Staff
BALTIMORE -- Sepracor's respiratory drug Xopenex again saw the upshot of the new ASP drug reimbursement with a 34-cent boost under CMS's second-quarter Part B drug fees released earlier this month -- the only significant change in the new pricing, said industry sources.
"Xopenex continues to be a big surprise, and we are happy with that because there were so many years that we provided it with really no reimbursement and patients struggled to get it," said Harold Davis, director of operations for...
Power Ox makes a power play
April 30, 2005HME News Staff
DECATUR, Ala. -- Letco Companies, whose PowerOx system quickly secured a vast customer base with its home oximetry testing technology, has scrapped the PowerOx for the new Instant Diagnostic System (IDS). Letco President Mickey Letson said the transition to IDS will be transparent for the 2,500 customers who are using PowerOx technology on the handheld Palm devices they use to collect and encrypt oximetry data. Unlike PowerOx, Letson said, IDS results can be transmitted to more than one lab.
Ten years on
April 30, 2005HME News Staff
Ten years ago this month, HME News launched its first issue. It was a remarkable month. Homedco and Abbey merged to form Apria. Bill Coughlan took the helm as CEO of NAMES. K Mart was testing the waters of HME, and Invacare was making noise about its largest deal ever -- a $25 million contract to supply Homedco with oxygen concentrators.
We've had a great ride over the past 10 years. Some real highs, and some lows, too. I can't recall how many times over the past 10 years, I've picked up the phone...
Senate, House at odds over big Medicaid cuts
April 30, 2005HME News Staff
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. House and Senate in March tussled over proposed 2006 Medicaid cuts, sending starkly different proposals to committee.
The Senate voted 52 to 48 in favor of a budget amendment that would take $14 billion in proposed Medicaid cuts off the table. The House, however, narrowly adopted a budget framework that included cutting $20 billion from the program. The proposals will have to be reconciled during the continuing budget battle.
President Bush originally proposed $60 billion...