Respiratory giant's revenues jump 21 percent this quarter. A balanced approach including both internal and external growth is the key to Lincare's success in the growing oxygen market, execs say. The strategy seems to be paying off, as Clearwater, FL-based Lincare Holdings Inc. beat analyst expectations and reported revenues of $244.2 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30 - that's a 21 percent increase over the same period in 2002. The respiratory giant's net income grew from $48.5 million a year ago to $60.4 million in the same time period. Lincare CEO John Byrnes says the company will continue with its success striking the right balance between "growth from internal development and acquisitions of local and regional companies." The company attributes 11 percent of its revenue increase to internal growth and 10 percent to acquisition growth. The company made three acquisitions with revenues of $2 million in the quarter. During the first nine months of 2003, Lincare purchased 11 companies with $80 million in revenues, it says. The addition of 15 new locations in the most recent quarter brings Lincare's total to 715, the company adds. Lincare's stock hit a 52-week high Oct. 21, trading at $40.05 per share. Once again, the Department of Health and Human Services has increased the Medicare premium, deductible and coinsurance amounts beneficiaries have to pay. Medicare beneficiaries will pay an $876 deductible for Part A services in 2004, up $36 from the $840 they pay now. The Part B monthly premium will jump 13.5 percent next year, from $58.70 to $66.60. Deductibles and premiums are updated each year according to a statutory formula. Claims for extra therapeutic shoe inserts no longer will be able to slip through the cracks in the payment system. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has wised up to the fact that its claims processing system hasn't been editing for inserts represented by HCPCS codes A5509 and A5511, CMS says in an Oct. 17 one-time notification, Trans. No. 7. Starting in April 2004, carriers will add the codes to their diabetic shoe edits, which enforce the following limits: no more than one pair of custom-molded shoes (including inserts provided with such shoes) and two additional pairs of inserts; or no more than one pair of depth shoes and three pairs of inserts (not including the non-customized removable inserts provided with such shoes). CMS' Web page for one-time notifications, which are part of its new online manual system and have replaced program memoranda, is at
www.cms.hhs.gov/manuals/120_OTN/default.asp (see Eli's HCW, Vol. XII, No. 33, p. 262). If you're not sure whether a business arrangement you are mulling will be kosher in the HHS Office of Inspector General's eyes, you might [...]
