The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) has reported that providers who filed Florida Medicaid claims from July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022, will receive payments equal to a 19-percent increase.
In a June 12 announcement, AAHomecare said Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), which administers the state’s Medicaid program, “is granting one-time payments to providers of Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS), including DME, calculated as a 19-percent increase based on Medicaid payments made by the MMA (managed medical assistance) plans on a range of codes over July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022.”
Those payments will be funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, AAHomecare added, and payments “do not require any application or reporting from eligible suppliers.”
AHCA has said those payments “have been disbursed to the plans, and the plans will then have 30 days to make disbursements to eligible providers.” About $181 million is expected to be distributed as part of the action.
AAHomecare & FAHCS Worked Together on the Project
AAHomecare said this round of relief “is for PT 90 suppliers, which is essentially all DME providers. The relief is based on billings for A, B, E, K, and T HCPCS codes; L codes (orthotics and prosthetics) are not included in the calculations.”
Assistive Care Services, Community Behavioral Health, Home Health Visit Services, Personal Care Services, and Private Duty Nursing Services are also eligible for the increase.
Laura Williard, AAHomecare’s VP of Payer Relations, said in the announcement, “Florida is the first state AAHomecare began working with to seek ARPA-based relief. On April 27, 2021, we sent a letter cobranded with the FAHCS [Florida Alliance of Home Care Services] to the governor’s office asking for a 20-percent retroactive increase based on one year’s claims.
“Following the request, we continued to work with FAHCS leaders and their lobbyist, Tom Griffin, to build awareness and support for ARPA relief for DME suppliers with Florida policy makers, meeting regularly with AHCA officials and representatives from Gov. [Ron] DeSantis’s office. Tom Wallace, AHCA Deputy Security for Health Care Finance and Data, deserves special recognition for understanding of the value DME delivers for all Florida residents and support during this effort.”
A 7.5-percent Medicaid fee schedule increase for DME suppliers in Florida goes into effect on Oct. 1. In announcing that increase in May, AAHomecare noted it was the first rate increase of this type in 23 years.
