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Check on Elderly in Heat Wave, Authorities Advise
ATLANTA--HomeCare's hometown really was Hotlanta last week, with temperatures topping 100 degrees and a heat index of 110 for four days running. The city opened up more than 30 "cooling centers" for seniors and others without access to air conditioning. ...
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Applications Still Short of Accreditors' Expectations
ATLANTA--Despite CMS' extension of the accreditation deadline for HME providers wishing to participate in competitive bidding, accreditation organizations still are not seeing a surge of applicants, they told HomeCare last week. ...
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Contractor Report Card Shows Good Marks
BALTIMORE--Results of a CMS satisfaction survey conducted earlier this year show that a majority of health care providers gave their Medicare contractors relatively good grades, although DME contractors received the lowest marks.
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Collaborative Tracks 70 Percent Reduction in Pressure Sores
PRINCETON, N.J.--After nearly two years of applying best practices and preventive techniques, 150 hospitals, nursing homes and home care agencies in New Jersey tracked a 70 percent reduction in the incidence of new pressure ulcers in their patients.
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Strike Force Arrests Pharmacy Owner in 'Massive' Kickback Scheme
MIAMI--In the latest Medicare Fraud Strike Force action in South Florida, a pharmacy owner has been charged with paying out more than $1 million in kickbacks in what investigators called "a massive kickback network" involving pharmacies, DME companies and physicians, federal officials announced Aug. 3.
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CHAMP Act's Cuts Draw Strong Response; AARP Is Unexpected HME Foe
ATLANTA--News of the so-called CHAMP Act's oxygen and power wheelchair provisions--legislation proposed in the House of Representatives that would reduce the 36-month oxygen rental cap to 18 months and eliminate the first-month purchase option for power wheelchairs--spurred a number of industry stakeholders into action last week.
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Industry Rallies against New Threat to Home Oxygen
WASHINGTON--Home oxygen providers braced for another body blow last week when the House of Representatives passed the Children's Health and Medicare Protection Act (H.R. 3162), which includes an 18-month cap for oxygen rental as a means of paying for the $50 billion bill.
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Oxygen Service Study Proposed in House Bill
WASHINGTON--While the Children's Health and Medicare Protection Act (H.R. 3162) passed by the House of Representatives last week contains home oxygen and power wheelchair cuts, it also includes one provision that would be favorable for HME, according to Cara Bachenheimer, vice president, government relations, for Elyria, Ohio-based Invacare.
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Letco Companies Acquired by Harvard Drug Group
PITTSBURGH--In a deal announced Friday by merger-and-acquisition firm The Braff Group, pharmacy specialists The Letco Companies has been acquired by The Harvard Drug Group, a portfolio company of H.I.G. Capital, a Miami-based private equity group. Braff initiated the transaction.
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Foam Dressings Probe Shows Close to 100 Percent Denial Rate
COLUMBIA, S.C.--TriCenturion announced on Thursday that it has completed a widespread prepayment review of foam dressings billed with the A1 modifier that showed close to a 100 percent denial rate for the claims in both Jurisdictions A and B. ...
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Apria, Lincare Post Q2 Gains
LAKE FOREST, Calif., and CLEARWATER, Fla.--National providers Apria Healthcare and Lincare Holdings announced increased second-quarter profits in recent earnings reports.
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CMS Extends Bid Window after Legislators Bring Full-Court Press
CMS Extends Bid Window after Legislators Bring Full-Court Press
BALTIMORE--After several weeks of intense pressure from legislators and months of lobbying by industry stakeholders, on Friday CMS extended its first-round window for DMEPOS competitive bidding by 60 days. ...
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Proposed House Bill Would Shorten O2 Rental Period
WASHINGTON--The industry's worry meter flew past the red zone last week as federal lawmakers hashed out the nation's spending bills, including committee debates on health care legislation, and, in the process, brought a reduced oxygen rental period and elimination of the first-month purchase option for power wheelchairs back into play.
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Government Goes After DME Overpayments to SNF Benes
WASHINGTON--According to a new report from the Office of Inspector General, Medicare Part B made $100.8 million in potential overpayments to DMEPOS suppliers on behalf of beneficiaries in Part A-covered skilled nursing facilities during 1999-2002--and the government wants the money back.
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OIG Challenges Effectiveness of CMS PSCs
WASHINGTON--The Program Safeguard Contractors hired by CMS to detect fraud and abuse are showing only "minimal results," and the agency must be more diligent in its oversight of these contractors, the Office of Inspector General said in a July 20 report.
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HME Draws FDA Interest; Conference Set in Houston
HOUSTON--With the aim of promoting the safe use of medical equipment in the home, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is partnering with the University of Houston to sponsor a conference for HME stakeholders Sept. 17-18.
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CMS Holds Bid Window Open for One More Week
BALTIMORE--Home medical equipment providers in the 10 competitive bidding areas got an 11th hour reprieve late Thursday when CMS extended its bid submission deadline by one week. All bids for the first round of competitive bidding are now due by 9 p.m. prevailing Eastern Time on July 27.
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CMS Asks for Details about Competitive Bidding Problems
ARLINGTON, Va.--On Friday, the American Association for Homecare held a conference call with officials at CMS and several other national provider associations regarding problems with the agency's competitive bidding system....
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