I grew up watching Schoolhouse Rock! between Saturday-morning cartoons. While those short videos on grammar, math and American history were great for my education — the preamble song is why my entire civics class scored 100% on that quiz — one video had an outsized impact on my understanding of the legislative process. “I’m Just…
Commentary: What Schoolhouse Rock’s ‘Bill’ Would Want You to Know About Policy
Clinician Task Force Survey Focuses on Medicare Advantage Access
The CTF is asking for providers to track and report PWC claims sent to Medicare Advantage plans.
The Clinician Task Force (CTF) is using a survey to collect information on Medicare Advantage (MA) plans in an effort to better understand MA plans’ denials of power wheelchair claims. After entering contact information, survey participants are asked which MA plans they work with. Then participants are asked why they have decided not to work…
Commentary: Once Again, Wheelchairs Considered Second-Class Solutions
Medicare is now funding personal exoskeletons. But what’s so wrong about rolling?
In April, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Medicare coverage for personal exoskeletons. ReWalk (DBA: Lifeward), an exoskeleton manufacturer, praised the decision: “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has officially revised its April 2024 Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) fee schedule to include a final lump-sum Medicare purchase…
CMS to Allow Advance DME Payments Following Change Healthcare Cyberattack
Medicare announcement is an attempt to preserve health cash flows for health-care providers.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will consider advance payments to Part B suppliers experiencing disruption in claims payments after a cyberattack on Change Healthcare in late February. CMS announced the plan to accelerate payments on March 9. On its website, Change Healthcare, part of UnitedHealth Group, said it discovered the cyberattack on…
CMS Issues Final Coding, Benefit Category, Payment Determinations for Seat Elevation
New coding will go into effect in April.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued its final coding, benefit category, and payment determinations for seat elevation on power wheelchairs. The determinations were included as part of CMS’s Second Biannual 2023 HCPCS Coding Cycle. CMS said new coding actions would be effective starting April 1, 2024, unless otherwise noted. CRT industry…
Briefly: U.S. Rehab Presents Forensic Denials Seminars; Grant to Study Pregnant Women with Disabilities
Featuring U.S. Rehab, United Spinal, and Brandeis University.
U.S. Rehab to Host In-Person Reimbursement Seminars U.S. Rehab’s Dan Fedor and VGM’s Ronda Buhrmeister are hitting the road to present their seminar, “Forensic Denials DME 2024.” The in-person events will be held March 7 in Seattle; April 18 in Hartford, Conn.; and Sept. 12 in Minneapolis. In the Feb. 5 seminar announcement, U.S. Rehab…
Share Your Medicare Advantage PWC Denials with Industry Workgroup
The workgroup is led by the Clinician Task Force and NCART.
If you’re a Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) provider and have had power wheelchair claims denied by one or more Medicare Advantage plans, an industry workgroup wants to hear from you. That’s the message that NCART passed along in its Dec. 28 newsletter to stakeholders. “Improper Medicare Advantage denials of power wheelchairs continue to negatively impact…
CRT Industry Shares Coding Recommendations for Seat Elevation
The need for a separate heavy-duty code was debated at CMS coding meeting.
In a Nov. 30 discussion with officials from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), representatives from the Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) industry made their case for the complexity of power seat elevation and the CRT clients who use it. The forum was the second biannual HCPCS Coding Cycle public meeting, held by CMS…
