News

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers has released a Congressional sign-on letter asking Capitol Hill leaders and key committee chairs/ranking members to include provisions in forthcoming legislation to fund government operations. The deadline for signatures on this letter is Thursday, March 1 at 12:00 PM ET (noon). In the letter, which can be found here, Rep. McMorris Rodgers states….. "Due to mounting concerns about access to this cost-effective and patient-preferred method of
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Statement on the confirmation of HHS Secretary from Tom Ryan, president and CEO of the American Association for Homecare:   "AAHomecare and the home medical equipment (HME) community are gratified to see Alex Azar confirmed as Secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). His previous high-level experience at HHS and background as an effective and accomplished health care executive makes him uniquely qualified to help resolve significant challenges facing our nation’s
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Welcome: Thank you for visiting the American Association for Homecare’s website. Our membership includes providers and manufacturers of home medical equipment (HME) as well as other organizations such as buying groups, distributors, billing specialists, and consultants who support this industry. Together, we fight for fair public policy and sustainable reimbursement rates for the home medical equipment sector in Washington and at the state level, in concert with our state and regional
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Last week, the AAHomecare Board of Directors approved the following changes to the Board and Executive Committee: Current AAHomecare Board member Joel Mills (CEO, Advanced Home Care – Greensboro, N.C.) has been appointed to the Executive Committee to fill the treasurer post that was previously held by Jeff Hall (president & CEO, Reliable Medical Supply – Brooklyn, Minn.) Gary Sheehan (president & CEO, Cape Medical Supply – Sandwich, Mass.) has been appointed to take the
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AAHomecare is concerned with the CMS policy on non-consumable supplies as it applies to CPAP. Recently, AAHomecare submitted comments to CMS on the DME MAC bulletin on non-consumable supplies that requires providers to confirm the need for more supplies and refill no sooner than 14 calendars days before the shipping date, confirm the beneficiary request for a refill, and hold off on shipping until 10 calendar days before the beneficiary’s current supply runs out. AAHomecare members
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Take Action! Join CRT advocacy efforts by requesting your elected officials co-sponsor two key CRT-focused bills: Issue Brief for HR 3730 (CRT Manual Accessories Legislation)  Issue Brief for HR 750 (CRT Separate Benefit Legislation) Congressional Directory  Complex Rehab Technology Initiatives AAHomecare is committed to advancing mobility and Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) priorities to ensure patient access to the mobility solutions to meet their medical needs and
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Oxygen Therapy The AAHomecare urges Congress to enact legislation to help more than one million Medicare home oxygen patients breathe easier by reducing the burdens placed on them by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) and making improvements to strengthen the home oxygen benefit. AAHomecare supports the enactment of legislation that would amend the DRA by restoring Medicare home oxygen payments for the period of medical need. The Association supports key improvements to the home oxygen
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Home medical equipment providers furnish essential products that include diabetic, incontinence, ostomy, urological, and wound care supplies. AAHomecare members can find more information and get involved in shaping policy for this issue through the Medical Supplies Council. For in-depth commentary on pending legislation and regulations, go to Analysis and Comments, Testimony & Official Statements. Recent developments related to these issues include: Diabetes Supplies HHS
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UPDATE: Thank you to Congressmen Thompson and Braley and the 81 members of Congress who cosigned the letter asking CMS Administrator Tavenner to stop the expansion of the Medicare bidding program. The letter recieved tremendous Congressional support and sent a strong message to Administrator Tavenner. Both providers and patients need to speak up and tell their Representatives in Congress that they need to ACT NOW to start repairing the damage that Medicare's badly
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On December 5, the Internal Revenue Service issued greatly improved final regulations for the application of a medical device excise tax, compared to the proposed rule issued earlier this year. While AAHomecare continues to examine the impact of the guidance, it appears that the vast majority of home medical equipment devices will not be subject to the tax.    Under the proposal contained in the Affordable Care Act, home medical device makers could have been subject to a 2.3 percent
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