Tag: Max Baucus
New MPP bill starts strong
April 26, 2013Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
WASHINGTON - The HME industry needs to hit the ground running now that a new bill to replace competitive bidding with a market-pricing program (MPP) has been dropped, say stakeholders.
“This is not the beginning of the battle, this is the meat of the battle,” said Joel Marx, AAHomecare chairman. “There is no turning back.”
Right out of the gate, H.R. 1717, the “Medicare DMEPOS Market Pricing Program Act of 2013,” had 25 co-sponsors. Reps. Tom Price,...
In the archives, in search of Baucus
April 23, 2013Liz Beaulieu, Editor
A few folks that I talked to today were all abuzz about an announcement made by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., that he will retire in 2014.
This is big news, obviously, with Baucus the chairman of the influential Senate Finance Committee, which, among other things, oversees Medicare and Medicaid. He's also the sixth Democrat to announce his retirement, giving momentum to Republicans trying to retake control of the Senate.
But in our small universe called the HME industry, what does this mean?...
Will you survive competitive bidding? This information will help provide the answer
September 21, 2010Mike Moran
Yesterday, I called Karen Moore for some information on revenue per full-time employee for HME companies. Karen is a turnaround expert and a partner at AnCor Healthcare Consulting. I called Karen because in our 2010 Financial Benchmarking Survey, the number of providers with revenue per FTE of $150k or more decreased significantly in 2009. That's not good, but don't take my word for it. Here's what Karen had to say on this very important topic:
As you know, revenue per employee...
Test your industry knowledge: Take the HME News challenge
September 17, 2010Mike Moran
I mentioned a while ago that I just received a fresh batch of DME data from CMS. As I was looking at this data, I thought it would be kind of fun to put together a little test. So here you go. Test your knowledge. The answers are at the bottom, but don't look!
1. If you expect to be able to battle competitive bidding and come out the other side, your company's EBITDA should be what?
a. 50% b. 12% c. 8% e. 25%
2. How many Medicare beneficiaries have...
Competitive bidding: What Congress is saying (and a few others) about the bid amounts
July 6, 2010Liz Beaulieu, Editor
Healthwatch, the healthcare blog of The Hill, a beltway publication, ran two stories over the weekend on the bid amounts for competitive bidding. Neither spells good news for the HME industry.
At least one sentator (Max Baucus, D-Mont.) and one representative (Joe Barton, R-Texas) are hailing the, on average, 32% cut to Medicare reimbursement for nine product categories in nine cities. Baucus said:
“Today we are seeing that transparency and competitiveness in Medicare results in a 32 percent...
The Easter Bunny pays a visit to Apria and Attends Healthcare
April 2, 2010Mike Moran
Do you know what a "dividend recapitalization is?" I didn't but I do now, and if you read a little further, you will, too. It's interesting.
This issue comes up because last week I ran into news stories involving two industry companies: Attends Healthcare, a maker of adult incontinence items, and Apria. Attends recently arranged a $98 million "dividend recap" and Apria, pending shareholders approval, will do a $500 million dividend recap.
Here's what Investopedia, an online investing...
Sens. Baucus, Grassley urge CMS to use 'discretion' toward pharmacies
January 28, 2010Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A couple of marquee-name senators last week asked Medicare to cut some slack for pharmacies that have not gotten accredited.
In a Jan. 26 letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Ranking Member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, urged "discretion" in enforcing the requirement.
"They were concerned that CMS was going to start acting in a draconian fashion and crack down on pharmacies that haven't gone through accreditation,"...
Senate bigwigs haven't forgotten Rx exemption
January 26, 2010Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
Sens. Max Baucus and Charles Grassley sent a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius yesterday asking her to cut some slack for pharmacies that haven't been accredited yet. The deadline for pharmacies passed Jan. 1 and with all that's happening in Congress lately, including their Christmas recess and the recent upset in the Senate, the NCPA and other stakeholders have been slowed in their efforts to get the deadline extended.
If CMS starts revoking billing privileges, beneficiaries could...
Community pharmacies inch closer to accreditation extension
October 6, 2009Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
The Senate joined the House yesterday when it voted to give community pharmacies until Dec. 31 to get accredited
“The Senate acted wisely to ensure seniors can continue purchasing essential
medical supplies from their community pharmacies,” said Bruce T. Roberts,
NCPA executive vice president and CEO in a release. “Senators Max Baucus, Charles
Grassley and Jon Tester, in particular, deserve recognition for shepherding
the bill through. Without it, thousands of independent...
Infusion folks set example for the rest of us
September 28, 2009Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
My editor occasionally groans when she sees I am doing an update on the home infusion industry's efforts to get Medicare coverage for their equipment and services. She supports the legislation, don't get me wrong. But, it's been a long battle and I am sure that she sometimes feels like she's rereading the same story.
But, the HME industry at-large could take a page from the National Home Infusion Association's government playbook. The Medicare Home Infusion Coverage act has...