Medicare Fraud Sweep Nets $223 Million, 89 Arrests for False Billings

A nationwide takedown by Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations in eight cities has resulted in 89 arrests for alleged participation in Medicare fraud schemes involving $223 million in false billing, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Wednesday. The cumulative arrests represented the sixth national Medicare fraud takedown in the Strike Force’s history, […]

Senator Launches Effort to Postpone Competitive Bidding Expansion

A U.S. Senator has spearheaded a sign-on letter asking the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to postpone plans to expand the competitive bidding program for home medical equipment. Senator John Hoeven (R-N.D.) launched the effort in response to a recent announcement that competitive bidding will be expanded nationwide by 2016 beyond the 100 areas […]

Invacare Earnings Dragged Down by North America DME Sales

Invacare, a manufacturer and distributer of long-term care and home care medical equipment, reported a first quarter loss as earnings were dragged down by declines in the company’s North American segment. The company reported net sales of $309.1 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014, down 6.7% from the first quarter of 2013. […]

Push Against Competitive Bidding Goes National

A growing group of professionals with ties to the home care and medical equipment industries are uniting in their opposition to a proposal from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to expand its competitive bidding program to new areas.  From clinicians and advocates for Medicare beneficiaries to home medical equipment providers, manufacturers, and […]

CMS Readies Fingerprint Background Checks for Home Health Providers

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will finally begin implementing its long-heralded fingerprint-based background checks for home health providers. As part of enhanced enrollment screening provisions contained in the Affordable Care Act, CMS announced it is beginning to phase in the implementation of fingerprinting background checks—an initiative three years in the making. The […]

Survey Shows CMS Competitive Bidding Program Is Not One-Size-Fits-All

Following a public commenting period from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Round 2 of its Competitive Bidding program for home medical equipment (HME), a recent survey shows a majority of HME providers generally reject the program’s “one-size-fits-all” approach. In efforts to simplify the submitting of public comment, VGM Group, Inc. created […]

OIG Reviews DME Competitive Bidding Program

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) generally operated within the guidelines and Federal requirements for the competitive bidding Round 1 rebid program for durable medical equipment suppliers, the Department of Health & Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General found in a recent report.  “We determined that CMS generally selected DMEPOS (durable medical equipment, […]

Home Medical Equipment Industry to Reach $12.6 Billion by 2018

The U.S. home medical equipment industry is expected to be worth $12.6 billion by 2018, according to a new report that points to a rise in telemedicine devices as a key growth component.  Demand for HME will rise 8.2% annually for the next four years, says RnRMarketResearch.com, spurred by advances in the technological capabilities of equipment such as […]

Home Health Brands Combine in Merger

With more than a combined 60 years of experience in the home health care, Roscoe Medical and Carex Health Brands announced Thursday that they will create a combined company to serve the growing home health market.  Though the terms of the merger are not being disclosed by either company, the merger will provide what both […]

AAHomecare Goes Digital in New National Online Campaign

The American Association for Homecare is going digital this month with the launch of a new national communications campaign that aims to drive consumer awareness about Medicare reform and its impact on homecare accessibility.  The campaign is slated to go live in April and will include a social media component geared toward education of consumers […]