AAHomecare Submits Comments on ESRD/DMEPOS Proposed Rule

Association submits comments on a variety of provisions in the rule and urges providers to submit comments by the Sept. 27 deadline.a

• By David Kopf
• Sep 25, 2019

The American Association for Homecare submitted its public comments on the proposed ESRD/DMEPOS rule for 2020 that CMS released in early August, and reminded providers that public comments are due Sept. 27.

The proposed rule contains several provisions related to home medical equipment, including changes to its method for “gap-filling” reimbursement rates on certain DME items; payment requirements; requesting market-based data related to diabetic testing suppliers; and change of ownership (CHOW) timeline.

AAHomecare’s full comments, which are available as a PDF at bit.ly/2lZXkaU, addressed nine elements of CMS’s proposed rule. A few essential aspects of the association’s 17 pages of comments:

• Regarding CMS’s gap-filling, AAHomecare stated it “strongly opposes CMS’ proposal to codify the flawed gap-filling pricing policies in federal regulation. Instead, we urge CMS to implement a process that involves all stakeholders, including experts, and is completely transparent.” 

• The association wrote that it supports CMS’ proposal to create a single “Master List,” for pricing items that have the payment conditions of face-to-face encounters, written order before delivery, and prior authorization, but had several concerns regarding CMS’s approach and recommended fixes.

• When it comes to the CHOW timeline, AAHomecare stated that it supported CMS’s proposal to extend the CHOW timeline from 60 days before the effective CHOW date to 10 days after the effective date.”

• AAHomecare also used the public comment period as an opportunity to make the “strong recommendation”’ that CMS “extend beyond 2020 the same 50-50 blended rates to non-CBAs that meet CMS’ definition of ‘rural’ or ‘non-contiguous.’” The association also called on CMS to “modify the payment calculation in non-CBAs that do not meet CMS’ definition of ‘rural’ or ‘non-contiguous’ to a 75-25 blended rate.” AAHomecare said it urged CMS to do so to “ensure appropriate beneficiary access and DME supplier financial viability.”

Once again, public comment on the rule are due Sept. 27. Providers can submit their comments at regulations.gov/document?D=CMS-2019-0110-0002.

The complete text of the proposed rule is available at bit.ly/2LU6dy3, and a CMS fact sheet on the proposed rule is available at go.cms.gov/2YkNzWz. Also, the American Association for Homecare shared a summary of the proposed rule.