Alexandria, Va.

This year, the American Association for Homecare will encourage U.S. lawmakers to reduce Medicare regulatory burdens, to revise the government's definition of “confined to the home,” and to eliminate consolidated billing for medical supplies, the association said in a March 7 press release.

“At the same time, we will continue to reiterate our overall message that home care is the high-quality, cost-effective and patient-preferred setting for care that can offer a solution to our nation's health care crisis,” Board Chairman David Savitsky said at the association's recent Leadership Conference.

In addition to announcing AAHomecare's overarching 2002 goals, the press release enumerated industry-specific goals, designed to address both home medical equipment-related and home health agency-related concerns.

AAHomecare's HME-related 2002 agenda included:

• Ensuring adequate reimbursement for Medicare-covered drugs;
• Restoring the consumer price index for oxygen; and
• Preventing nationwide competitive bidding.

To learn more about AAHomecare's 2002 agenda, visit the association's news page at www.aahomecare.org/newsroom/pressreleases.htm.

For breaking news, go to www.homecaremonday.com, the electronic news service of the home medical equipment industry.