BALTIMORE—In an instruction to its contractors Feb. 3, CMS rescinded a new consignment closet rule for further review. The agency said it was considering rulemaking to address the issue in the future. That means, according to AAHomecare, that the current rules governing consignment closets are still in place.
In a report last week, the association said the new consignment—or loan—closet policy, which had been scheduled to take effect March 2, would have "essentially prohibited" an HME company from maintaining inventory at a practice location owned by a physician or other health care professional.
According to the association, the rule would have required physicians or non-physician practitioners to take possession of DMEPOS items and then bill for the equipment using their own billing number. "In addition to being impractical for physicians and Medicare beneficiaries," AAHomecare said, "such an arrangement would have likely violated the physician ownership and referral statute, known as the Stark law."
The association said it had worked with CMS officials over the past several months to explain why closing down the closet arrangements would have created serious disruptions in services for Medicare beneficiaries.
