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Posted On: December 6, 2019 by VGM DC Link in: Reimbursement
From the Desk of Ronda Buhrmester
We are in the middle of open enrollment which means if your company is currently enrolled as a participating supplier, now is the time to change your status to non-participating. Why is it important to consider...
December 6, 2019
Categories: Reimbursement
From the Desk of Ronda Buhrmester
We are in the middle of open enrollment which means if your company is currently enrolled as a participating supplier, now is the time to change your status to non-participating. Why is it important to consider changing your enrollment status?
Enrolled as a participating supplier means that the supplier accepts the Medicare fee schedule and will bill all claims on an assigned basis.
Being enrolled as a non-participating supplier...
December 5, 2019
Categories: Competitive Bidding
Please join us Wednesday, December 11th at 1:30 CST for a webinar where Mark Higley and Ronda Buhrmester will discuss Round 2021 PBE issues and the most commonly asked questions and concerns applicable to the notices of this week. VGM recognizes there are some critical issues and perhaps some confusion. Prepare your questions now (and if you have “screen shots” or attachments send them to [email protected]). We are here to help!
Webinar Details: Wednesday,...
November 20, 2019
Categories: General
You may have seen the Request for Information (RFI) that was sent out by the House Ways and Means committee. The Rural and Underserved Task Force is seeking input on priority topics that affect health status and outcomes for consideration and discussion in future member sessions of the task force. The full RFI can be viewed HERE.
Who needs to respond: DME suppliers, state associations, and hospital discharge planners and case managers need to respond! Take...
November 15, 2019
Categories: Competitive Bidding
Yesterday PAMES (Pacific Association of Medical Equipment Suppliers) members met with the offices of Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) in their Seattle offices.
PAMES representatives included President Paul Sabin and John Williams both of Norco. Joe Campbell, Tammy Kvinsland, Kristine Hurt and Amber Lacheney of Olympic Pharmacy. Amy Adams and Michael Bednarksi of McKesson. And John Gallagher of VGM
Conversations...
November 13, 2019
Categories: Reimbursement
Earlier this year, California HME suppliers received notice from California Medicaid (Medi-Cal) announcing that California would be adopting 80% of the Medicare non-rural reimbursement rates as their fee schedule for most Medi-Cal DME claims. Their intent was to implement the new fee schedule retroactive to Jan. 1, 2019. There were a couple of product categories that were to be paid at 100% of the non-rural Medicare rate; those exceptions were wheelchairs, wheelchair accessories,...
November 13, 2019
Categories: Competitive Bidding
As we noted last week, the CBIC has distributed (via Connexion) a notice to certain bidders to substantiate Round 2021 bids. Accordingly, please check your email/Connexion to ensure you have not missed any notice. (To be clear, if there is no notification, no action is required at this time; see additional notice/response due dates below.)
A few observations:
It...November 8, 2019
Categories: General
You may have noticed some differences recently from the VGM Government team. We have a new look, a new blog, and a new way of communicating with you. With all these changes, one of the questions we’ve been hearing is, “Why?”
Our team’s goal is to position your company for success not only today, but well into the future. Getting information to you is a crucial part of that. That means sending news and updates to you as quickly and accurately as possible—and...
August 23, 2019
Categories: General
Make sure you are properly educated so that you can make a smart bid when the time comes. In case you missed it,  VGM Government Relations representatives Mark Higley, Ronda Buhrmester, and Craig Douglas have hosted a couple of competitive bidding webinars that covered all aspects of the program, including demonstrating the nuts and bolts of the bidding program. Click here to view the webinar from June 6th Click here to view the webinar from July 10th.
July 18, 2019
Categories: CRT, General, NCART
The following is the text of a legislative update released on July 18th, 2019. Manual CRT Legislation Clears More Hurdles in the House Wednesday, the Energy & Commerce Committee approved H.R.2328, the Reauthorizing and Extending America's Community Health Act, (REACH Act), a bill which contains CRT manual wheelchair and manual wheelchair accessory legislation. Specifically, this legislation will permanently remove manual CRT wheelchairs from the competitive bidding program and suspend competitive...
July 16, 2019
Categories: General
The following is the text of a legislative update released on July 10th, 2019. August of Action: CAMES and John Gallagher Meet With CO Congressional Offices Today, the Colorado DME state association, CAMES, along with VGM's John Gallagher, is meeting with the staff of Colorado elected officials, Sen. Michael Bennet (Dem.) and Rep. Diana DeGette (Dem.) to discuss issues facing DME providers at the federal level, urging their support on a number of bills, including H.R.2771, the Protecting Home...
