AAHomecare’s Tom Ryan Praises DMEPOS Relief Act of 2023

• By Laurie Watanabe
• Sep 26, 2023

H.R. 5555, also known as the DMEPOS Relief Act of 2023, came at just the right time for advocates of home medical equipment industry.

The bill was introduced on Sept. 19, the day before the American Association for Homecare’s (AAHomecare) Virtual Washington Legislative Conference, during which “more than 200 meetings with Members of Congress” were completed, said AAHomecare President/CEO Tom Ryan.

“The timing of this new legislation couldn’t be better,” Ryan said in a Sept. 23 announcement. “The HME community 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.”

H.R. 555 was introduced by Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) and Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.). It would provide a 90/10 blended Medicare reimbursement rate, described by AAHomecare as a 90-percent adjusted payment rate and 10-percent unadjusted fee schedule rate “for most home medical equipment products in Competitive Bidding Areas (CBAs), effective Jan. 1, 2024, through the end of 2024,” the Association said.

In addition, the bill would extend the 75/25 blended rate now in effect for non-rural/non-CBA home medical equipment suppliers through 2024.

Ryan said of the new bill, “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. We need policymakers to understand the critical need to make sure our industry operates under a sustainable rate structure to meet the needs of a rapidly growing senior cohort.”