American Association for Homecare sent a letter to the Medical Directors for the DME MACs outlining challenges facing suppliers and patients due to Philips’ recent recall of some respiratory products.
In its letter, AAHomecare outlines the dilemma faced by HME providers and patients when it comes to the short-term lack of replacement devices from Philips and other manufacturers and what that could mean for therapy compliance. It also emphasizes that if patients do not contact their HME provider to announce they are discontinuing use, the HME provider needs to be able to continue supporting those patients and bill accordingly.
“We request that the DME MACs work with the DME industry by continuing to reimburse for Devices and related supplies for patients who elect to continue using their Device,” AAHomecare notes in its letter. “We further request a temporary suspension of time-specific adherence rules to allow patients time to have devices repaired or replaced.”
To that end, AAHomecare asked CMS to temporarily suspend the 90-day adherence rule to give patients time to have their devices repaired or replaced.
The letter also asks for clarifications regarding some of the answers provided in the FAQ documents that Noridian released for DME MAC Jurisdictions A and D. Specifically, AAHomecare’s letter discusses unclear language in Noridian’s answers to questions 3, 4 and 9 in the FAQ.
AAHomecare is working with respiratory stakeholders, clinical groups, government entities and their contractors, and major payers to help expedite replacement equipment and continue high-quality care for patients who continue to use their devices in the near term.
