Category Posts

On February 4, 2022, the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) issued guidance to health care providers on civil rights protections for people with disabilities. VGM has received several inquires as to the more specific nature of the guidance. 

To be clear, the release is an update of an earlier (March 28, 2020) HHS bulletin, which included information relative to civil rights, HIPAA, and the Coronavirus Disease 2019. 

The bulletin noted “…in light...

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If you are a provider who was required to submit a report to HRSA, and you missed the deadline to submit reports, or would like to make a correction to the report you initially submitted, you now have a second, and likely final, chance to do that. However, that second chance won’t last long. The reporting portal has been re-opened by HRSA, but it will only remain open until December 20th. The statement on their website (https://prfreporting.hrsa.gov/s/) reads:

Click here to view the list of 86 supporters. The list was last updated Friday.

If your member of Congress has not signed on yet, please reach out to them today asking them to sign this letter asking Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to finalize the Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) proposed rule that was issued on October...

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If your member of Congress has not signed on yet, please reach out to them today asking them to sign this letter asking Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to finalize the Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) proposed rule that was issued on October 27, 2020.  

The rule would establish methodologies for adjusting...

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Deadline for House Dear Colleague letter to CMS extended to Thursday, October 7.  

As of this morning, there are 38 supporters of the letter. See the current list of supporters here. We need so many more! Please reach out to your member of Congress today asking them to sign this letter asking Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to finalize the Durable...

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There are currently only 22 supporters of the House Dear Colleague to CMS! Now is the time for action. Please reach out to your member of Congress today asking them to sign this letter asking Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to finalize the Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) proposed rule that was issued on October 27, 2020. The rule...

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As of September 29, the application portal for Phase 4 of the HHS Provider Relief Fund (PRF) is open, and HHS has released further details regarding which providers are eligible to apply for additional funding in this latest round. The application portal is scheduled to remain open until Oct. 26. There are technically two separate programs or sources of funding available right now, but the single application serves for both programs. In addition to Phase 4 of the PRF, there is also separate...

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Home medical equipment suppliers (HME) have endured many obstacles over the years while doing their best to continuing to provide quality products and services to patients in the home. Over the past ten years, reimbursement rates for HME reimbursement rates have decreased mainly due to the competitive bidding program. Other obstacles like COVID-19, audits, regulatory burdens, cost increases, staff shortages, and supplier closures have made it incredibly difficult for HME business to continue to...

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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced 2 important updates (https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2021/09/10/hhs-announces-the-availability-of-25-point-5-billion-in-covid-19-provider-funding.html) regarding the HHS Provider Relief Fund (PRF).

An additional $25.5B in funding will be made available to eligible providers beginning September 29th. The funding will be available through 2 different source. $8.5B dollars will be made available through the American Rescue Plan,...

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Since the HHS Provider Relief Fund (PRF) reporting portal opened on July 1, 2021, HHS has released some updated guidance and two important supporting documents to assist providers as they prepare to submit their reports on how they used the dollars they received. The first document is a 36-page data entry workbook, which walks providers through the various data points and fields that they will need to include in their reports. That workbook can be found here.

The workbook can also...

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