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 the CRT-focused bills: Issue Brief for HR 2293 & 1223 (CRT Manual Accessories Legislation) Issue Brief for HR 2408 (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 maximize...

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Excluding Urologicals and Ostomy from Competitive Bidding Background During the 1999 and 2001 Competitive Bidding demonstrations in Polk County, Florida, urological supplies were included in the Competitive Bidding program pilot, which government agencies concluded that “the category of urological supplies is not as well suited for Competitive Bidding” and advised against including it in future rounds.  However, recent references to expanding the Competitive Bidding program...

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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 received 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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Excluding DMEPOS from Proposed Tariffs Background In March 2018, a report of the Trump Administration’s investigation on China concluded that China used several tactics to force technology transfers from US firms and conducted cyberattacks to gain valuable business information and trade secrets.  Section 301 gives the President and the US Trade Representative (USTR) broad authority to act against countries whose actions, policies, or practices unreasonably burden or restrict US commerce....

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Home medical equipment allows seniors, persons with disabilities or chronic health issues, and individuals recovering from an accident, surgery or illness to stay in their homes, often at a much more affordable cost than an a brief stay in a hospital or a longer stay in a nursing home or assisted living facility. For example, as the chart below shows, the daily cost of home oxygen for Medicare patients is 1/30th of the cost of a  day in a nursing home, and – or 1/268th of the cost of a...

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Background 110 of the largest, most densely populated MSAs in the country currently participate as Competitively Bid Areas (CBAs) in the Competitive Bidding Program (CBP) for DMEPOS (Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies). These CBAs are home to 58% of all Medicare beneficiaries in the nation. Under the CBP, durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers, often called home medical equipment (HME) suppliers, compete for a limited number of contracts to serve Medicare beneficiaries...

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The Medicare audit process and coverage criteria do not work properly. They must be modified in order to reduce their negative impact on home medical equipment providers’ operational and financial resources, and consequently, their ability to continue caring for patients. AAHomecare is concerned that the audit standards used by Medicare contractors are having the following unintended consequences: Eligible Medicare beneficiaries are not receiving medically necessary and covered...

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