Archive: August 2009
Wheelchair story rankles CPAP crowd
August 31, 2009HME News Staff
CNN's story in July on Medicare reimbursement for wheelchairs struck a chord with CPAP providers.
The six-and-a-half minute segment featured a beneficiary whose provider, Apria, was reimbursed $1,200 by Medicare for her manual chair. The same chair, says the narrator, can be bought online for $440.
CPAP machines can also be purchased online, sometimes for much lower prices than what a traditional HME can offer.
"You read these pieces in the paper and see these CNN pieces where we are getting bashed,"...
Industry offers alternative
August 31, 2009HME News Staff
WASHINGTON -The rehab industry in July was shopping around an alternative to a provision included in draft healthcare reform legislation that would eliminate the first-month purchase option for power wheelchairs.
The alternative, according to industry stakeholders, would preserve the first-month purchase option, but if beneficiaries don't use their wheelchairs for 13 months, it would allow CMS to treat the purchases like rentals and require providers to pay the agency back for months not used.
"In...
Rep. Langevin tries again
August 31, 2009HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., introduced a bill July 13 that would eliminate the "in-the-home" restriction for mobility devices for individuals with expected long-term needs.
At press time in August, the Medicare Independent Living Act of 2009, H.R. 3184, had 13 co-sponsors.
"The need to have access to one's physical environment through the use of an appropriate wheelchair or other mobility device, both inside and outside of the home, is critical to living independently, functioning in...
Groups seek third-party input
August 31, 2009HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - NCART has contracted with Avalere Health, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm focused on healthcare business strategy and public policy, to study creating a separate benefit for complex power wheelchairs.
"They're going to help us identify our options, whether they're regulatory, legislative or a combination," said Don Clayback, NCART's executive director. "That way, we'll be better able to see whether a particular avenue seems preferable."
NCART expects Avalere to complete the...
VA looks to UPitt
August 31, 2009HME News Staff
PITTSBURGH -The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has tapped Mark Schmeler and his team at the University of Pittsburgh for a three-year, $3.64 million contract to review and update four rehab centers.
The project's needed for two reasons, according to Schmeler: First, the VA has noticed an increasing number of soldiers returning from the Middle East with blast injuries that require wheeled seating and mobility and assistive technology; second, it's under pressure, ever since a scandal at Walter...
NRRTS changes guards
August 31, 2009HME News Staff
NRRTS welcomes a new president in August: John Zona, a long-time registrant who's a seating specialist for the Fallon Clinic, a Worcester, Mass.-based medical group practice. He replaces Weesie Walker. Zona, a NRRTS-registered CRTS and a RESNA-certified ATP, spoke with HME News in late June, detailing his plans for the organization.
HME News: You've been involved with NRRTS since the early 1990s, when the organization was created. What made you want to take a leadership role after all of these years?
John...
NCART to discuss 'basic concepts' of separate benefit
August 31, 2009HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - NCART plans to make public the results of a study to create a separate benefit for complex power wheelchairs during a panel discussion at Medtrade in October.
NCART contracted with Avalere Health, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm focused on healthcare business strategy and public policy, to identify options for divorcing DME.
"We'll talk about the basic concepts and allow time for open discussion," said Don Clayback, NCART's executive director. "As we start pulling this together,...
Pageantry
August 31, 2009Liz Beaulieu, Editor
Erika Bogan of North Carolina was crowned Ms. Wheelchair America 2010 last week. Bogan, from Huntsville, is working on a bachelor's degree in psychology. She began using a wheelchair in 2002 after an automobile accident. The runners-up were: Kimberly Yeoman of Utah (fourth runner-up); Amber Marcy of Michigan (third runner-up); Alyson Roth of California (second runner-up); and Jannette Saxton of Washington state (first runner-up). Bogan succeeds Michelle Colvard of Texas, Ms. Wheelchair American...
Investors target wound care
August 31, 2009HME News Staff
RADNOR, Pa. - The market for regular and bariatric wound care products just got a little more interesting thanks to a trio of private equity investors with deep pockets.
The three companies—Aurora Capital Group, Hollywood Capital and Moelis Capital Partners—joined forces recently to merge RecoverCare and MedaStat, creating a wound care distributor with revenues approaching $200 million, according to Hollywood Capital Chairman Mark Bidner.
Bidner, who will serve as CEO of the combined...
Sleep growth slows
August 31, 2009HME News Staff
YARMOUTH, Maine - After enjoying several years of rapid growth, the sleep market has slowed, thanks to the current recession, say providers.
"People are losing their jobs and they're losing their insurance," said provider Sandy Fermoile, owner of Buffalo, N.Y.-based Apnea Care. "If they've got a pile of bills, CPAP is next to the bottom."
A Wachovia study published in May found that HME providers expect the economy to slow their sleep business growth by 1.4%. Also, according to the survey, 53% of...