Tag: New England Medical Equipment Dealers (NEMED)
Goodbye NEMED
June 21, 2013Guest Commentary
The New England Medical Equipment Dealers Association (NEMED) celebrated a milestone birthday recently: 25 years of service to our members in New England. It's quite an accomplishment. I have been the executive director for 15 years, during which time we have weathered many storms and seen many successes. Within my first five years with NEMED, we tripled our membership, tripled our budget and tripled our staff. And we've been rockin' and rollin' ever since!I am passionate about this organization,...
NEMED members 'right there to help' bombing victims
May 8, 2013HME News Staff
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - In the wake of the bombings in Boston, the New England Medical Equipment Dealers Association (NEMED) called on its members to provide assistance to victims injured in the attacks. Its members answered that call. “By the second day, BMC (Boston Medical Center) was calling NEMED to ask us to help coordinate because they had received so many offers of help from our members,” said Karyn Estrella, NEMED executive director, in a bulletin from The VGM Group. Invacare Corporation...
ISG deal opens up old wounds
January 25, 2013Liz Beaulieu, Editor
TWINSBURG, Ohio - Some HME providers are on edge about the new ownership at Invacare Supply Group (ISG).AssuraMed, which completed its $150 million purchase of ISG in January, has two business units: Edgepark Medical Supply, which sells supplies direct to the consumer; and Independence Medical Supply, which sells supplies through the provider channel. While AssuraMed plans to fold ISG into Independence Medical, some providers worry about buying supplies from a company that is affiliated in some way...
Top callers for MPP: Conn., N.C., Ala., N.Y., Minn.
December 12, 2012HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - Connecticut came out on top during the Dec. 4 and 5 “Shutdown the Switchboard” event, according to a bulletin from The VGM Group. The event, spearheaded by VGM and NAIMES, urged industry stakeholders to call and tell their representatives to co-sponsor H.R. 6490, a bill that would replace the competitive bidding program with a market-pricing program (MPP). The states with the most reported calls were Connecticut (132), North Carolina (95), Alabama (94), New York (92) and...
Industry ratchets up MPP talk
December 7, 2012Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
WASHINGTON - HME providers lit up the Capitol Hill switchboard Dec. 4 and 5 with one message: Support the market-pricing program (MPP).
The VGM Group and NAIMES, which spearheaded the efforts, estimate that 1,177 and 200 calls were made, respectively. The state with the most calls was Connecticut (132). Staffers for Rep. Christopher Murphy, D-Conn., told NEMED officials that he would take a closer look at H.R. 6490, a bill to replace the current competitive bidding program with MPP, as a result...
NEMED: It's time to drop 'dealer'
September 24, 2012Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - What's in a name? More than you think, says the New England Medical Equipment Dealers Association.
“We want to get the word 'dealers' removed,” said Karyn Estrella, executive director of NEMED. “The idea has come from members, and also some legislators at the state house have told us that we really should consider it. It doesn't represent who we are.”
The association plans to unveil its new name in May 2013, as part of its silver...
Give credit where it's due
June 22, 2012Karyn Estrella
Editor's note: Karyn Estrella sent the following letter to Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), on May 2.The New England Medical Equipment Dealers Association (NEMED) applauds you on the recent announcement of the finalization of the Community First Choice rule; however, we are concerned that the overlapping implementation of DME (HME) national competitive bidding will ultimately hurt the demonstration's success.NEMED is the regional trade association...
New Hampshire: Medicaid looks to drop cost-plus
August 26, 2010Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
CONCORD, N.H. - New Hampshire may be the "granite state," but fortunately for providers here, recent Medicaid cuts weren't set in stone.
In mid-June, the state rescinded cuts that went into effect April 1 on most HME products. Those cuts, which were made without notifying providers, slashed Medicaid reimbursement by about 20% across the board.
The New England Medical Equipment Dealers Association (NEMED) responded to the cuts by hiring a public relations firm to get stories in...
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...