WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 17, 2020)—AAHomecare joined the Home Medical Equipment and Services Association of New England (HOMES) in commenting on Medicaid rate analysis commissioned by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to help guide future rate-setting efforts. The joint comments take issue with the choice of states used for comparison purposes, noting significant differences in the service areas and Medicaid program operating structures versus those in Maine. The comments also push back against using Medicare bidding rates as another benchmark in their analysis.
The comments highlight extensive missing, incomplete, and/or mischaracterized data used by the contractor who developed the comparison. Using oxygen concentrators as an example, the comments show that the missing data could be impacting the rate comparison by 20% to 25%.
HOMES and AAHomecare conclude the comments by offering to help Maine DHHS correct issues with contractor’s analysis and develop a report that better reflects the operating environment and cost factors HME suppliers are facing in serving the state’s Medicaid beneficiaries. See the complete comments here.
