January Archives

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This week, Representative Sharice Davids toured Cherub Medical Supplies, a Shawnee-based supplier of pediatric medical devices that is grappling with long delays due to the current shortage of critical materials like semiconductors. Davids joined Cherub and another local company, Lenexa-based Reliable Medical Supplies, to urge passage of legislation that would reduce our reliance on foreign-made materials and deliver these lifesaving devices...

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On Friday, January 14th, 2022, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra announced an extension of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE). This extension will last another 90 days from January 16, 2022. Any PHE declaration can only last for 90 days at a time but can be extended or renewed. It has already been renewed multiple times.

There are several provisions tied to the duration of the PHE that will remain in place due to the extension of the PHE, including:

Medicare’s...

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Today, Thursday, January 13, 2022, the Supreme Court stopped the Biden administration’s vaccination-or-testing requirement on the nation’s largest employers, expressing doubt that there is legal authority for such a broad mandate.

But the court allowed a different policy, which requires vaccinations for most healthcare workers at the facilities that receive Medicaid and Medicare funds.  (Note: With certain exceptions, DMEPOS suppliers do NOT fall within the policy[1].)

Chief...

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Listen below as Ronda Buhrmester breaks down the new prior auth list, requirements, and the phases to implementation. 

Click here for the update master list of items subject to face-to-face and WOPD and/or prior auths.

And register for Ronda’s upcoming Live Chat, Wednesday, January 20th at 11am central as she covers PHE waivers, and disects the new master list. Register for her Live Chat! Seats are limited!

 

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When is it a good time to review the product and services your business offers? Now is the perfect time. CMS released an update stating that beginning January 3, 2022, DMEPOS suppliers will receive informational messaging on the remit resulting in a claim denial when the supplier is not appropriately accredited. In addition to reviewing accreditation information, you should also review the products and services offered on the 855S application or within PECOS.

The MLN article...

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 (*) UPDATED January 10, 2022 – Awaiting Supreme Court Ruling

With over 100,000 Americans hospitalized for COVID-19 as a result of the highly contagious Omicron variant, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments Friday in two sets of challenges to the Biden administration’s authority to take action to combat the pandemic. In the first case, National Federation of Independent Business v. Department of Labor, the justices will consider the Biden administration’s...

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DME providers who transfill oxygen appear to now be required to submit reports to the FDA to show how many units of certain drugs, including medical gases (oxygen) they dispensed. Until now, providers who transfilled oxygen were required to simply register with the FDA, but there was no reporting requirement. The new reporting requirement stems from the CARES Act, which modified the Food, Drug, and Cosmetics (FD&C) Act.

In 2022, the first year of the reporting requirements, there will...

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While it is true that our industry, and all industries for that matter, face challenges on several fronts, we should take stock in the amazing service, support, and products that our community was able to provide to those in need! Your focus on the patient was never more needed, and each of you rose to the challenge. As you battle through supply shortages, uncertain healthcare policies, public health emergencies, and crazy weather in multiple regions across the county, you continue to...

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Thank you to those who took the time to fill out the PPE expenditures survey. Mark Higley was able to quantify these results into an approximate number of dollars spent on PPE within the DME industry. PPE expenditures hover between $12,000 and $15,000 per DME location.

Click here to view Mark Higley’s analysis. These results have been sent to congressional offices.

Keep your member of Congress updated on these findings too! You can easily reach out to them asking to make...

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Compiled by Mark J. Higley, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs

As we begin 2022 and look back on 2021, we recognize the challenges over the past two years by the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on the DMEPOS industry. Coupled with supply chain issues, product recalls and surcharges, demanding demographic changes, and the uncertainty attributable to the reimbursement direction from the industry’s biggest payor (Medicare), it is perhaps somewhat remarkable that our businesses...

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