Home Health & Hospice Week

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has a message for suppliers who hope the national coverage determination for power wheelchairs might apply to past claims: Give it up.

While CMS retracted the restrictive bed- or chair-confined standard a year ago, some durable medical equipment regional carriers are still using it, Eric Sokol of the Power Mobility Coalition observed in CMS' Feb. 24 Open Door Forum on the NCD. Given that situation, he asked, would the NCD still apply only to claims going forward?

"NCDs are not retroactive," responded Dr. Louis Jacques of CMS' Coverage and Analysis Group.

Forum participants also raised concerns about whether the accelerated NCD process might be moving too quickly. Patrick Meeker, a physical therapist from Lexington, KY and a member of the Clinician Task Force, wondered whether the process would sacrifice input from stakeholders. CMS did not address that worry during the forum.

In addition, Meeker expressed concern over how much influence stakeholders would have in shaping the final NCD. "With the comment period ending March 7, will there be a re-release so we can see if our comments were taken down?" he asked.

"Once the final is released, it's final," Jacques answered.

But that doesn't mean suppliers won't have recourse should there be significant problems with the NCD, Jacques added. "I suppose that if a group felt we were way off base, they could request a reconsideration of the NCD," he said.

Get moving: CMS officials urged DME suppliers and other interested stakeholders to submit comments on the NCD as soon as possible. The official due date is March 7.

Stay tuned: Meanwhile, the agency said it would provide future opportunities for stakeholders to offer their input on other elements of the agency's wheelchair policy - including issues specific to suppliers.