Home Health & Hospice Week

Suppliers of home dialysis equipment should make sure their Medicare clients' method selections show up on the CMS-382 form. Otherwise, they could face increased denials for dialysis supplies, a recent report shows. Medicare paid more than $9.5 million in 2000 for end-stage renal disease claims without verifying beneficiaries' method selection, according to the HHS Office of Inspector General. Under the ESRD regime, beneficiaries who choose home dialysis must select either Method I (a dialysis facility provides both services and supplies) or Method II (a dialysis facility provides services, while a durable medical equipment supplier furnishes supplies). The selection is transmitted to Medicare claims processors via the CMS-382 form. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services should make sure Medicare doesn't pay for claims unless the beneficiary's method selection is recorded in the common working file, the OIG urges in "Home Dialysis Payment Vulnerabili-ties" (OEI-07-01-00570). CMS plans to implement the recommendation, it says. Method II payments for continuous cycling peritoneal dialysis are too high, the OIG also complains in the report. Editor's Note: The report is at http://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-07-01-00570.pdf.