Tag: post-PHE
Physicians, platforms & supplies: ‘It’s a gray area’
June 23, 2023Liz Beaulieu, Editor
YARMOUTH, Maine – The unwinding of the public health emergency and the increasing number of platforms that allow physicians to manage the distribution of medical supplies for their patients have complicated the Medicare market for providers, says health care attorney Jeff Baird.
During the public health emergency, which stretched from March 2020 through much of April 2023, some physician groups took the position that blanket waivers to the Stark law allowed them to mail supplies to...
CQRC calls for clear post-PHE transition
February 27, 2023Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
WASHINGTON – With a “massive” number of patients starting on home respiratory therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Council for Quality Respiratory Care is renewing its call for a transition period to ensure those patients don’t lose access when the public health emergency ends on May 11, says the Council for Quality Respiratory Care.
While providers are ready to move past the pandemic, much of that readiness depends on any guidance CMS provides, especially for...
Post-PHE: Grandfathering patients, continuing telehealth and using EUA devices
February 10, 2023Liz Beaulieu, Editor
YARMOUTH, Maine – Now that there’s an end date, industry watchers are waiting for CMS to publish guidance on patients who providers set up during the public health emergency and who they will bill for beyond the PHE.
President Joe Biden announced in February that the PHE will end May 11, 2023.
“We need to be grandfathered in,” said Jeff Baird, chair of the Health Care Group at Brown & Fortunato during a Feb. 2 webcast. “We don’t want post-PHE...
Post-PHE environment could be complicated
October 7, 2022Liz Beaulieu, Editor
YARMOUTH, Maine – Respondents to a recent HME Newspoll were nearly evenly split on whether or not they’re prepared to operate in a post-PHE environment.
A slight majority, 52.63%, reported they’re not prepared, particularly with a 75/25 blended Medicare reimbursement rate for providers in non-rural areas set to expire along with the PHE.
“Rates are already too low to cover costs,” wrote one respondent.
CMS in September pointed to an eventual...
Providers should prepare to move on from PHE
September 9, 2022Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
WASHINGTON – CMS has begun setting the stage for the end of the public health emergency and so should HME providers, say stakeholders.
The agency recently released an overview, “Creating a Roadmap for the End of the Covid-19 Public Health Emergency,” and while it doesn’t provide new information, it summarizes waivers still in place and those that have already expired.
“Eventually, the PHE is going to come to an end and suppliers need to be thinking...