May Archives

These next couple of weeks will provide a great opportunity to get face to face with your member of Congress. Many House members will be back in their home states/districts through June 14th, holding meet & greet and town hall events. Town hall events typically cost no money to attend and provide you with an opportunity to address your Senator or member of Congress directly about your issues and concerns.

Most members of Congress have up-coming events or town halls events listed on their...

Earlier this week, PAMES members, along with John Gallagher, met Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers staff in her Spokane office. The group had the privilege of voicing their concerns, particularly on the topic of increasing reimbursement for home medical equipment products and services.

Accompanying Gallagher were Mike Calcaterra and Paul Sabin from Norco, Don Whitney of Inland Medical and Rehab, and Melissa Roberts of Bellevue Healthcare. All these individuals operate in the state of Washington...

For several years reimbursement rates for providers have been declining while the cost to provide services has been increasing. Medicare beneficiaries need to be able to access DMEPOS products and services when and where they need them. While VGM Government has been pushing for higher rates for years, this was further highlighted with COVID-19. Providers did see some relief with the CARES Act that included 75/25 blended rates in the non-rural, non-CBAs and VGM continues to advocate for this rate...

State associations used a virtual conference platform during COVID-19 to provide education and CEUs to members. 

The unexpected turn of events with COVID-19 put a strain on every aspect of healthcare in 2020 and into 2021. Most state associations focused on durable and home medical equipment (DME/ HME) had to cancel their in-person conferences in 2020, which could have cost a lot in lost revenue. Late last summer, the VGM Government Relations team sought out a way to assist the...

VGM & Associates and HME News are working together again to administer the 2021 Financial Benchmarking Survey.

This partnership brings the two entities together to offer one survey for providers to share their business data for benchmarking purposes. Since these two companies have combined their efforts, participation has increased, which is valuable for everyone in the industry.

“This continued partnership makes it convenient for HME providers to have one source to submit...

Registration for VGM’s 20th anniversary Heartland Conference is now open. The educational event will be held in person September 13-15 in Waterloo, Iowa. 

Those interested in attending can register for...

The Texas Medical Equipment Providers Association (TexMEP) is pleased to announce their recent changes in leadership with the hiring of an Executive Director and establishing a new Board of Directors.

TexMEP has brought in Lauryn Estrella as their new Executive Director. Lauryn comes to TexMEP with over 10 years’ experience in the home medical equipment industry with a background in management and administration. In 2014 she began working for the Home Medical Equipment and Services...