Tag: Tom Price
Hargan named acting secretary at HHS
October 12, 2017HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump has named Eric Hargan as acting secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services. Last week, Hargan was confirmed 57-38 to fill the No. 2 position at HHS. Hargan will fill the post vacated by Tom Price, who resigned in the wake of criticism of his frequent use of costly charter flights to travel to government engagements. Hargan, a former attorney, served at HHS during the Bush administration in various roles, including deputy general counsel, principal...
Stakeholders take stock in wake of Price's resignation
October 6, 2017Liz Beaulieu, Editor
WASHINGTON - Tom Price's resignation from the Department of Health and Human Services shouldn't have an impact on a pending interim final rule, industry stakeholders say. What's lesser known: Whether it will have an impact on a final fix for the competitive bidding program.The IFR, which promises to provide relief from bid-related pricing in non-bid areas, is waiting to be cleared by the Office of Management and Budget—something that could happen any day now, stakeholders say.“All the...
AAH, VGM respond to Price's resignation
October 3, 2017HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - While the HME industry has lost a strong advocate in former HHS Secretary Tom Price, AAHomecare and VGM say they won't be deterred in their fight to reform the competitive bidding program and address other issues.
They point out that in his short time in office Price, who resigned on Friday, has cleared the way for reform by, among other things, submitting a bid-related interim final rule to the Office of Management and Budget for clearance.
“We will build upon the strong...
Tom Price is out at HHS
September 29, 2017HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price, a long-time champion of the HME industry, will resign effective 11:59 p.m. today, Friday, Sept. 29.
The resignation comes amidst growing criticism of Price's use of charter flights instead of commercial flights to travel to government engagements. Politico, which broke the story of Price's costly travel, estimated that the price tag for these trips was more than $400,000.
On Thursday, Price announced that he would reimburse...
Price now has letters from both Senate, House
July 12, 2017HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - HME stakeholders collected 48 signatures for a letter from Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., asking HHS Secretary Tom Price to use his regulatory authority to provide relief from competitive bidding in rural areas, VGM reported this morning.Stakeholders rallied in the last hour, lifting the number of signatures for the letter from 14 on Friday to 48 on Tuesday, the day after the deadline.Now Price and CMS Administrator Seema Verma have received letters from both the...
Industry issues last call to action for sign-on letter
June 8, 2017HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - Eighty-four members of Congress and counting have signed a letter asking HHS Secretary Tom Price to make significant changes to HME policy.Time is running out, however: The goal is at least 150, and the deadline is Friday, June 9.AAHomecare reports another 20 members have sought additional information on the letter, which is spearheaded by Rep. Cathy McMorriss Rogers, R-Wash., and five other representatives.The uptick in commitments comes after AAHomecare's Washington Legislative Conference,...
Will Price pull-through?
March 29, 2017Liz Beaulieu, Editor
HME stakeholders have always had a dual strategy: regulatory and legislative.
But with industry champion Tom Price as the new secretary of Health and Human Services, their regulatory strategy has taken on a new sense of urgency.
Stakeholders haven't wasted time calling on Price, who came onboard in February, to take swift action on a number of issues, most of them competitive bidding-related. In March, both AAHomecare and The VGM Group wrote him letters, detailing their wish lists.
Also in March,...
VGM calls on Price to take action
March 21, 2017HME News Staff
WATERLOO, Iowa - The VGM Group outlined three priorities that need “immediate action,” including relief for HME providers rural areas, in a March 20 letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.
The top priority: speeding up six months of payments owed to HME providers as part of a retroactive delay of reimbursement cuts that went into effect in non-competitive bidding areas on July 1, 2016. A provision in the Cures Act delayed the cuts until Jan. 1, 2017. CMS in February...
Spring renewal: '2017 is our year,' says AAH's Tom Ryan
March 3, 2017Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
LAS VEGAS - The HME industry descended on Medtrade Spring last week with renewed vigor.“The challenges keep coming but we have an unprecedented opportunity to move the needle this year,” said Tom Ryan, president and CEO of AAHomecare, during the association's Washington Update Feb. 28. “2017 is our year.”The key reason for the overall positive outlook: Tom Price, the new secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, who the industry is looking to for help with...
AAH appeals to Price to freeze rates
March 2, 2017HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - AAHomecare has asked newly minted Health and Human Service Secretary Tom Price to issue an interim final rule to repeal the fully adjusted Medicare rates that originally went into effect in non-competitive bidding areas on July 1, 2016.In a Feb. 28 letter, the association asks Price to, instead, freeze rates at the 50/50 blended rate that took effect Jan. 1, 2016, and amend the methodology for determining adjusted fee schedules.“I request for you to take immediate action to provide...