Archive: June 2012
In brief: Lawmakers ask GAO to step in, Blum sends letter
June 29, 2012HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - A group of high-ranking lawmakers last week asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to examine whether audit contractors are working efficiently. Leadership of the Senate Finance, House Energy and Commerce, and House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight asked the GAO to conduct a study "that focuses on coordination among contractor efforts and CMS efforts to oversee these contractors to ensure that they are working efficiently." The Senate Finance Committee has been collecting...
Linde to buy Lincare for $4.6B
June 29, 2012Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Linde of Germany has offered to buy Lincare for $4.6 billion in a friendly takeover that the provider's board has unanimously approved, according to news reports.Linde will offer a reported $41.50 per share for Lincare, which has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion—more than Air Liquide of France and an unnamed private equity firm that were also rumored to be bidding, according to news reports."It's not exactly a surprising move in that Linde and Air Liquide both understand...
ACA decision, NCB and MPP
June 29, 2012Liz Beaulieu, Editor
WASHINGTON - It was probably a long shot, anyway, but stakeholders now know for sure that the U.S. Supreme Court won't save them from an expansion of competitive bidding or several other HME-related provisions in the Affordable Care Act (ACA).To much fanfare, the court last week upheld the ACA with Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. siding with the court's more liberal members in a 5-4 vote.“People were hoping these provisions were going to go away, but the bulk of the law will remain intact,”...
Remember IR? CMS sharpens price-cutting tool
June 29, 2012Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
BALTIMORE - CMS isn't stopping at competitive bidding to slash payments for diabetes supplies.CMS announced June 22 that it will hold a public meeting July 23 to discuss using inherent reasonableness (IR) to adjust prices for non-mail order supplies."There is significant spending in that area and they believe that, based on the mail order competitive bid pricing, that this is something they need to take a closer look at," said Walt Gorski, vice president of government affairs for AAHomecare.Through...
CMS: Accessories not part of PMD demo
June 29, 2012Elizabeth Deprey
BALTIMORE - Providers want to know: how do you determine the medical necessity of a power wheelchair when you don't consider the accessories added to meet a patient's needs?CMS had no answer to that question during last week's Open Door Forum for the PMD demonstration except to say that accessories will not be included in the prior authorization process."The accessories cost much more than the base," Wayne Levesque of Mobility Medical told CMS officials during the forum. "From my standpoint, if you're...
ACA decision and NCB and MPP
June 28, 2012Liz Beaulieu, Editor
WASHINGTON - It was probably a long shot, anyway, but stakeholders now know for sure that the U.S. Supreme Court won't save them from an expansion of competitive bidding or several other HME-related provisions in the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
To much fanfare, the court this morning upheld the ACA with Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. siding with the court's more liberal members in a 5-4 vote.
“People were hoping these provisions were going to go away, but the bulk of the law will...
Linde of Germany to buy Lincare. SCOTUS upholds ACA. What's the bigger story?
June 28, 2012Liz Beaulieu, Editor
It's been a busy morning here at HME News world headquarters.
In case you didn't see the news reports late yesterday, Linde of Germany is rumored to be bidding to buy Lincare for $3.4 billion. Managing Editor Theresa Flaherty is making calls on that as we speak. She's already gotten this interesting piece of speculation: Lincare never put out a shingle; Linde of Germany came knocking on its own.
And I'm sure you've heard by now that the U.S. Supreme Court this morning announced...
What HME and goats have in common
June 27, 2012Elizabeth Deprey
I got an email from Cindi Petito the other day asking for votes for LOTTUS Designs so she could qualify for a $250,000 grant.
I thought it was interesting and planned to check in with her down the road to see if she won.
Then I received a similar email from Jaqui Painchaud of Grampa's Garden - she's also on the hunt for votes. Around that same time, I saw a local goat farm, the Flying Goat Farm in Acton, Maine, was also hunting up votes.
My interest piqued, I decided to do a little investigating....
Lawmakers ask tough questions about audit activities
June 27, 2012HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - A group of high-ranking lawmakers yesterday asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to examine whether audit contractors are working efficiently.In a letter to Gene Dodaro, comptroller general of the United States, leadership of the Senate Finance, House Energy and Commerce, and House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight asked the GAO to conduct a study "that focuses on coordination among contractor efforts and CMS efforts to oversee these contractors to ensure that they...
VGM offers re-compete seminar
June 26, 2012HME News Staff
WATERLOO, Iowa - The VGM Group will travel to the nine cities included in Round 1 of competitive bidding to give seminars on the re-compete program scheduled to kick off this fall.During the daylong seminars, VGM's bidding expert Mark Higley will cover all facets of the re-compete, including registering for the program, submitting bids and filing hard copy documents. He will also cover strategies and pitfalls.Attendees will receive take-home CDs that include various preparation “tools”...