The American Association for Homecare’s (AAHomecare) Rehab & Assistive Technology Council (RATC) has formally asked Secretary of Health & Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt to rescind the new power mobility device (PMD) fee schedules released by the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services last week, and to also postpone the Nov. 15, 2006, implementation date, announced on Sept. 20 along with a revised PMD local coverage determination (LCD).
The RATC letter to Leavitt included the statement, “We also believe that the new payment levels are far too low to support appropriate access to PMDs for Medicare beneficiaries, especially in the light of the new coverage, documentation and quality standards that suppliers will be required to meet. In fact, the new fee schedules significantly undermine the progress CMS has made to date in these other areas and pose what may be insurmountable barriers to access for Medicare beneficiaries.”
