Home Health & Hospice Week

Industry protests fall on deaf ears so far. The Obama administration's regulatory review hold on competitive bidding for durable medical equipment has come to naught, leaving suppliers stuck with a "deeply flawed" program, industry reps say. After review by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services officials, "the administration has concluded that the effective date should not be further delayed" for bidding, CMS says in a release.The effective date of the rule was April 18. The American Association for Homecare is dismayed that Medicare is pushing forward with the problematic program, it says. "Given the significant problems with the program highlighted over the past year, and in light of the repeated concerns expressed by Congress in 2008 and more recently,we are surprised by the CMS decision to move forward," saysAAHomecare president TylerWilson in a release.Earlier this month, 84 members of the House of Representatives sent a letter asking CMS to rescind [...]