In brief: Rotech files IPO, Numotion buys SpinLife, NC goes with rate floor

ORLANDO, Fla. – Rotech Healthcare Holdings has filed for an initial public offering of up to $100 million and plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol ROTK. 

The company had $534 million in sales for the 12 months ended March 31, 2021. 

Rotech Healthcare offers a comprehensive range of home medical equipment and products and services across five core business lines: oxygen, ventilators, sleep therapy, wound care and DME. The company's payer mix includes commercial insurers, Medicare, Medicaid, the VA and private individuals. As of March 31, 2021, it served more than 600,000 active patients across over 300 service locations in 45 states. 

BofA Securities, Jefferies, UBS Investment Bank, Truist Securities, Baird and RBC Capital Markets are the joint bookrunners on the deal. 

No pricing terms were disclosed. 

Numotion buys online retailer 

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Numotion has acquired SpinLife.com, a Columbus, Ohio-based online retailer of durable medical equipment, including scooters, lifts, and power and manual wheelchairs. 

Together, the two companies will “drive speed to market with new products, creative ideas and innovation” that better meet customer needs, says Lisa Stein, founder and CEO of SpinLife. 

“With our combined scale and resources, we will do things that have never been done before in this industry,” she said. “Numotion’s footprint of 150-plus brick-and-mortar locations complements the e-commerce presence, National Service network and catalog distribution of SpinLife.” 

Stein will join Numotion as a member of the company’s board of directors. All SpinLife employees, including its ATPs and product experts, will also join the company. Pattiann McAdams will manage and lead day-to-day operations of Numotion’s new retail division as senior vice president and general manager. 

Mike Swinford, CEO of Numotion, says SpinLife has developed a reputation, since launching in 1999, for “high-touch product expertise” and “white-glove customer service.” 

“Their unique and innovative retail business model and customer focus are incredible complements to our business and brings together the two market leaders in retail and third-party reimbursed products,” he said. “This powerful combination enables us to expand our capabilities to better serve more customers with a broader portfolio of products and services.” 

North Carolina implements Medicaid rate floor 

RALEIGH, N.C. – North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on June 29 signed S594, a bill that creates a rate floor for durable medical equipment, ACMESA and AAHomecare report. 

Per the legislation, reimbursement for DME will be set at 100% of the lesser of the supplier’s usual and customary rate or the maximum allowable Medicaid fee-for-service rates for DME and supplies, orthotics and prosthetics. 

The legislation, which went into effect July 1, protects rate floor provisions for Medicaid managed care organizations enacted one year ago and extends them for an additional two years beyond the original three-year term for a total of five years of protection.  

“Our previous work with state Medicaid officials earned us a lot of trust with them,” said Laura Williard, AAHomecare’s vice president of payer relations. “We helped North Carolina avoid $15 million in paybacks to the federal government in the first year on implementation of the CURES Act and prevented additional paybacks and cuts in subsequent years. Getting them to support our language was critical to the effort.” 

ACMESA and AAHomecare estimate the rate protections prevent $22 million in potential cuts to Medicaid reimbursement for DMEPOS in North Carolina on an annual basis.  

BioMatrix acquires InfuCare 

TYLER, Texas – BioMatrix Specialty Pharmacy has acquired InfuCare, based here, adding a location in a key geographic area. 

“We are pleased to welcome the InfuCare team as part of the BioMatrix family,” said Nick Karalis, CEO of BioMatrix. “A Texas pharmacy location is part of our strategic plan to expand our infusion services and increase access to covered lives. With complimentary core competencies and shared values of exceptional patient care, together we will improve health and shape a more promising future for the patients we serve.” 

InfuCare is well versed in chronic, complex conditions requiring home infusion, including IVIG, anti-infectives and parenteral nutrition. 

InfuCare, which is accredited by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, has been recognized for providing exemplary home infusion and specialty pharmacy services in Texas. 

“The leadership and staff at InfuCare are delighted to begin our partnership with BioMatrix,” said Gary Wyatt, partner of InfuCare, LTD. “Our goal over the last 21 years has been to provide an exceptional and personal level of infusion care to our patients in the east Texas region. Having interacted with BioMatrix leadership over the last several months, we are confident that our focus and theirs will be complementary and will lead to an even greater level of care for both infusion and specialty patients in our region and beyond.” 

Paragon Ventures was the exclusive adviser to InfuCare Ltd. 

Smart Saver rates for Medtrade East end July 17 

ATLANTA – Smart Saver rates are in effect for Medtrade East, scheduled for Oct. 18-20, 2021, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, through July 17. “We are back at our familiar home at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta for Medtrade East,” says York Schwab, associate show director. “After a virtual event in 2020, we are happy to be get back to an in-person show and we hope Medtrade East can be a rallying point to inspire the industry and help spark a great 2022 for HME providers.” All registration pricing info can be found here: https://medtrade.com/attendee/pricing/ 

OxyGo hits 1M milestone 

ORLANDO, Fla. – OxyGo is celebrating helping more than 1 million lives with its lightweight portable oxygen equipment. The company plans to host a series of events throughout the year to share the milestone with its employees and suppliers. First off: A recent socially distanced luncheon for employees, suppliers and members of the community at OxyGo locations across the country. “Being a family business and celebrating this milestone is incredible,” said V.E. Marquard-Schultz, CEO. “Our mission has always been to keep oxygen patients going. Thanks to our incredible team and providers, we look forward to helping another million patients.” The luncheon, which featured guest speakers and testimonials, was also simulcast. Among the attendees of the luncheon: Tom Gill, president of Urban Community School in Cleveland, which received a $25,000 donation from OxyGo. “Our mission at OxyGo is to Keep Going,” Marquard-Schultz said. “We value education and the growth mindset that there is nothing we can’t do if we set our minds to it. USC makes a huge difference in the lives of the community. During this pandemic year, they really showed us what it meant to Keep Going.” 

Motion re-enters Manitoba market 

TORONTO – Motion, formerly Motion Specialties, has expanded its business into Manitoba with the acquisition of Canadian Health Care Products based in Winnipeg. “Motion’s acquisition of Canadian Health Care Products further accelerates our rapid growth in 2021,” said Thecla Sweeney, executive chair and CEO of Motion. “We are excited to return to the province of Manitoba with a corporate location. In partnership with CHCP and its founder, Joe Perry, Motion will continue to serve the unique mobility and accessibility needs of Manitobans, while upholding our commitment to make life accessible for all Canadians.” Canadian Health Care Products will be known as Motion Winnipeg. It’s the latest in a string of acquisitions for Motion in the past five years that has included Shoppers Home Health Care’s Wheelchair & Stairlift division, Eastern Mobility Specialists, Creative Mobility Products, North Coast Home Medical Equipment and A-1 Wheelchairs Unlimited.  

Permobil donates wheelchair 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Permobil Foundation, in partnership with the Cincinnati Reds, LiveLikeLou and Phi Delta Theta, gave Adam Wilson his own team-branded, custom Permobil power wheelchair at a recent home game. Wilson has been one of the driving forces behind Major League Baseball’s adoption of Lou Gehrig Day as committee co-chair. “Adam has lived with ALS for years and had no idea we would be surprising him with a new M3 Corpus wheelchair with the custom Red’s colors and logo just for him,” said Ashley Davis, executive director of the foundation. “We hope this one-of-a-kind chair will give him the support and independence he needs to live life with fewer limitations.” Special thanks go to Permobil rep Amy Morgan and provider Care Medical for helping to set up the wheelchair. 

Pharmacy associations go back to court 

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A group of nine pharmacy associations, including the National Community Pharmacists Association, has filed a friend of the court brief in the Eighth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals defending North Dakota’s right to regulate pharmacy benefit managers. The case, Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) v. Wehbi, is the first to consider at the federal appellate level the scope of the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous decision last year upholding an Arkansas state law regulating PBMs. In the new filing, the PCMA argues that, notwithstanding the Supreme Court decision, “a regulatory vacuum should still exist that would forestall limiting how PBMs leverage concentrated market power to the detriment of plans, patients and pharmacies.” “The states have an obligation to protect patients and local businesses, and a unanimous Supreme Court made clear in December that they have a right to do so,” said B. Douglas Hoey, CEO of the NCPA. “We’ve been fighting this fight from the beginning, and we intend to see it through.” The other parties of the brief are the American Pharmacists Association and the pharmacy associations of seven states within the jurisdiction of the court. 

Essity now owns 100% of ABIGO Medical 

STOCKHOLM – Essity has completed its acquisition of ABIGO Medical, which develops, manufactures and markets wound care products, including Sorbact technology. Essity acquired 75% of the Gothenburg, Sweden-based company in February 2020 and has now acquired the remaining 25% of shares. Per the terms of the transaction, ABIGO Medical’s pharma business has been divested and sold to the company’s founder, Jan Smith. Essity reported organic net sales in wound care increased 2.1% in the first quarter of 2021.