Medicare Rate Relief Bill Introduced in U.S. House

• By Laurie Watanabe
• Sep 21, 2023

A new bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives could bring reimbursement relief to home medical equipment suppliers.

In a Sept. 19 announcement, the American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) hailed H.R. 5555, introduced by Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) and Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), as “new legislation providing relief for suppliers across a broad range of patient segments.”

AAHomecare said the DMEPOS Relief Act of 2023 “provides a 90/10 blended Medicare reimbursement rate for most home medical equipment products in Competitive Bidding Areas (CBAs) effective Jan. 1, 2024, through the end of 2024.”

In addition to providing a 90-percent adjusted payment rate/10-percent unadjusted fee schedule rate, the bill seeks to extend the current 75/25 blended rate currently in effect for non-rural/non-CBA suppliers through 2024.

Tom Ryan, AAHomecare’s CEO/President, said in the announcement, “This legislation provides a long-overdue relief for HME suppliers serving Medicare beneficiaries in CBAs, who have been saddled with reimbursement rates that have not seen a meaningful, market-based adjustment since 2015. These modest rate increases will help stabilize the HME supplier base and provide better access to high-quality home-based care for millions of Americans and their caregivers.

“The HME community at large needs to follow up on these meetings with concerted grassroots advocacy over the next few weeks to build support for this legislation in the House, as well as for S. 1294 in the Senate.”

S. 1294, the Competitive Bidding Relief Act, has been a priority for AAHomecare this summer, with the association urging stakeholders to ask for their Senators to sign on as cosponsors. The bill would extend the relief from the 2022 Omnibus budget legislation and retain the Medicare 75/25 blended rates for home medical equipment suppliers in non-rural, non-competitive-bidding areas through next year.