Tag: Market Pricing Program (MPP)
Tom Price is in as HHS secretary
February 10, 2017HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - The Senate early on Friday approved the nomination of Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Senate voted 52 to 47 to confirm Price, a long-time champion of the HME industry.
“Dr. Price has a strong appreciation of the role that home medical equipment providers play in allowing people to remain in their homes when recuperating from an illness or dealing with long-term health changes,” said Tom Ryan, president and CEO...
Stakeholders make progress on bidding relief
October 30, 2015Liz Beaulieu, Editor
ATLANTA - A bill that would soften the blow of the national expansion of competitive bidding is coming, AAHomecare officials told Medtrade attendees last week.Stakeholders already have Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., committed to introduce the bill, but recently they were able to sign on Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., as a lead co-sponsor, making the effort bi-partisan; and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., as the lead on a companion bill.“You want to see the bill already,” said Tom Ryan, president and...
MPP back in spotlight
May 15, 2015Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
WASHINGTON - Provider Robert Steedley will take the mic at a hearing this week to discuss how the market pricing program is a better alternative to the current bidding system.“We want to continue to discuss with Congress repairing what we consider to be a flawed program,” said Steedley, who will be speaking as AAHomecare's chairman of the Board of Directors. Steedley is also president of Barnes Healthcare Services in Valdosta, Ga. “I'll focus on some of the more problematic areas,...
In brief: CMS sets ICD-10 start date, AAH adds videos to campaign toolbox
May 2, 2014HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - In an April 30 proposed rule that sets hospital and long-term care inpatient payment rates and rules for 2015, CMS acknowledged it plans to implement ICD-10 on Oct. 1, 2015. Congress forced the agency's hand when both the House of Representatives and the Senate passed “doc fix” bills that included a one-year delay in the transition to the new coding system. CMS “expects to release an interim final rule in the near future that will include a new compliance date that...
Bid program: Stakeholders push for more meaningful fix
January 10, 2014Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
WASHINGTON - HME industry stakeholders are hard at work trying to leverage a small victory in their fight against competitive bidding.
In December, stakeholders succeeded in getting an amendment in the “doc fix” bill that would require providers to prove they meet licensure requirements before they are allowed to submit bids. But that's a far cry from what they had initially sought.
“We'll be pushing to get some of the key components of the market-pricing program into...
New contract suppliers, new licensure issues?
November 8, 2013Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
WASHINGTON - It's still early, but industry stakeholders are already hearing reports of licensure issues in the Round 1 re-compete.This time, however, it's licensed providers that say their bids were rejected because, according to the Competitive Bidding Implementation Contractor (CBIC), they were not properly licensed.“We've just begun licensure analysis, but CMS seems to be making the same kind of mistakes,” said Cara Bachenheimer, senior vice president of government relations for Invacare....
In brief: Clock ticks on MPP, MAC outlines responsibilities
October 25, 2013HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - All eyes in Washington, D.C., last week may have been on the Affordable Care Act and the website that couldn't, but that didn't stop stakeholders from meeting with legislative staffers to get a sense of what the industry might accomplish before the end of the year. “We are hearing that they will be doing a fix to take care of doctors before the holidays and that's the vehicle we've been looking for to include the market pricing program (MPP),” said Seth Johnson,...
Big Cs at Heartland: competitive bidding, change
June 14, 2013Liz Beaulieu, Editor
WATERLOO, Iowa - The tide may be turning on CMS and its competitive bidding program, industry stakeholders told attendees at The VGM Group's Heartland Conference last week.
The same week as the conference, Reps. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., and Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, introduced a bill that would delay Round 2 of competitive bidding (see top story). Earlier in the week, they had sent a “Dear Colleague” letter signed by 227 lawmakers, a majority in the House of Representatives, to CMS.
“This...
'We need to win'
June 14, 2013Leif Kothe
WASHINGTON - Robert Steedley, president of Barnes Healthcare Services in Valdosta, Ga., becomes chairman of AAHomecare at a time of change for both the HME industry and the association. Here's what he had to say about his appointment and AAHomecare's role in shaping the future of the industry.
HME News: What's your background in the HME industry?
Robert Steedley: I started out in 1988 in pre-hospital care as an EMT in Tennessee. I got a degree in nursing and became an RN in 1992,...
'It's quantum shift time,' analysts say
June 14, 2013Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
YARMOUTH, Maine - A pair of recent M&A transactions on opposite coasts illustrates what analysts have long predicted: Competitive bidding will drive market consolidation, they say.
With prices on the downswing, companies need to build scale, say analysts.
“It's quantum shift time,” said Rick Glass, president of Steven Richards & Associates.
In May, Mount Vernon, N.Y.-based Landauer Metropolitan merged with Plainview, N.Y.-based Allcare Medical to create one of the largest...