February Archives

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) is closely monitoring the outbreak of COVID-19 (Coronavirus), and with a total of 15 confirmed cases in the United States as of February 28 and more than 450 tested, your employees may start asking questions about work, travel, how to help customers, etc.

In the article, “Coronavirus Outbreak Causes Employers to Consider Precautionary Steps,” Emma Follansbee covers best practices for employers:

H.R.2771 (Protecting Home Oxygen & Medical Equipment Act) has gained an additional cosponsor since last reporting. The total number of supporters is now up to 74 with the addition of Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA). Congrats to those who reached out to him asking for his support!

Has your member signed? Click here to view all cosponsors and reach out today to encourage support. See map below indicating the cosponsors for H.R.2771. 

H.R.4945 (Safeguarding Medicare...

Please take a few minutes today to reach out to your members of Congress asking them to support both the DME and NIV legislation. 

H.R.2771 (Protecting Home Oxygen & Medical Equipment Act) is up to 73 cosponsors. Has your member signed? Click here to view all cosponsors and reach out today to encourage support. Below is a map which indicates the cosponsors for H.R.2771.

H.R.4945 (Safeguarding Medicare Access to Respiratory Therapy Act of 2019) has risen...

With many updates and changes regarding Medi-Cal, it is as important as ever to be informed and engaged with reimbursement changes in California.

Make plans to view this important webinar, “Medi-Cal Update and State of the State,” hosted by CAMPS and VGM. 

Note: This call is open to providers, manufacturers...

The CBIC “development phase” is now completed. It ran from October 31 – December 17, 2019, where the contractor developed (reviewed) for bona fide bids, missing financial documents under covered document review, and preliminary bid evaluation (the various eligibility requirements including licensure, accreditation, bid bonds, etc.). Note: Many bidding entities were disqualified due to lack of, or improper submission of, the bid bonds.  
 
The...

The President released the 2021 Budget proposal on Monday, Feb. 10, 2020. History has shown that items listed in the Budget (once scored as savings) can and do show up in legislation later in the year. There are two items that VGM Government will focus on:

“The 2021 Budget requests $94.5 billion for HHS, a 10-percent decrease from the 2020 enacted level. The Budget proposes $1.6 trillion in net mandatory...

The CMS Certificate of Medical Necessity (CMN) such as the CMS-484 for oxygen equipment and CMS-846 for pneumatic compression devices, has an expiration date of February 2020 (2/2020). The question was asked to CGS & Noridian regarding the expiration date. The response back was that they have elevated this concern with CMS and that the DME MACs will continue to accept the CMNs that are currently available. The DME MACs will not reject or deny claims based on the expiration date of the current...

Please take a few minutes today to reach out to your members of Congress and ask them to support both the DME and NIV legislation.

The focus will shift to the presidential election in the later half of the year. We need to push for support early in 2020 before this focus shifts. We ask that you continue reaching out to your members of Congress. Meet with them face to face! Call their local office or D.C. office. Speak to their health staff. Encourage your coworkers and friends to...