Headline News
PWC Payment Study ‘Disappointing, Misleading,’ AAHomecare Says
ARLINGTON, Va.—The American Association for Homecare
issued a statement yesterday labeling an Office of Inspector
General report on Medicare power wheelchair payments
“both disappointing and extremely
misleading.”
Posted Sept. 2, the report—“Power
Wheelchairs in the Medicare Program: Supplier Acquisition Costs and
Services”—compared Medicare reimbursements
for PWCs in 2007 to providers’ costs to purchase the
equipment. “Medicare allowed an average of $4,018 for
standard power wheelchairs that cost suppliers an average of $1,048
in the first half of 2007,” the report said. “Medicare
and its beneficiaries paid suppliers an average of $2,970 beyond
the supplier’s acquisition cost to perform an average of five
services and cover general business costs.”
But the OIG report “ignored the substantial costs of services
related to providing power wheelchairs, including complex rehab, to
seniors and people with disabilities who require mobility
assistance,” AAHomecare said.
“The OIG admits that they did not account for services
involved in providing and maintaining properly adjusted wheelchairs
to Medicare beneficiaries in their homes. The OIG study notes,
‘We did not determine the cost of performing these services
or other general supplier business expenses, such as billing,
accreditation, staff salaries, or facility
maintenance.’”
Neither did the report account for the cost to comply with the 26
federally mandated supplier standards required of HME providers
doing business with Medicare. “Compliance with those
standards is a significant cost-driver for providers of power
wheelchairs,” AAHomecare said.
