The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) has created a task force to develop an alternative to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' competitive bidding program to which home medical equipment (HME) and durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers are subject.

The Association plans to press Congress to consider a different approach to CMS' bidding program which AAHomecare says manifested many shortcomings during its implementation over the past year.

Tyler Wilson, president of AAHomecare stated that the bidding program would have negative effects on both HME providers and the patients who require these items and services.

"The bidding program has the potential to eliminate approximately 90% of Medicare providers in specified markets, and aggressive bidding will lead to a significant reduction in services and quality of care. The Association has determined that it must seek an alternative mechanism to promote accurate reimbursement rates for homecare items, services and therapies," he said.

In a related development, officials at CMS have begun soliciting nominations for people to serve on the Program Advisory & Oversight Committee (PAOC), the panel that advises CMS on issues relating to Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) competitive bidding.

"Through the PAOC, CMS has a good opportunity to learn from the problems from Round One," says Wilson. "Clearly, had the agency made better use of the expertise from the HME sector on the PAOC during previous implementation of the bidding program, many of the flaws might have been avoided."

Read DOTmed News' prior coverage of this important topic at:
https://www.dotmed.com/news/story/6417/

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