Rep. Ellmers Visits NCAMES Members

Lawmaker discusses competitive bidding, audits with industry representatives at N.C. provider.

• By David Kopf
• Oct 09, 2014

Staunch HME industry ally Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.; pictured center below) recently met with HME providers who are members of North Carolina Association for Medical Equipment Services (NCAMES) on Oct. 7 at Dunn, NC.-based  Family Medical Supply.

The discussion, which also included representatives from Brightree, MiraVISTA, MedGroup and VGM, focused on the effects of Medicare policies like competitive bidding and the audit and appeals on medical equipment suppliers and Medicare beneficiaries in North Carolina and around the country.

“The longer we can keep patients in the home and healthy, the better for saving Medicare dollars and the better for the patients overall well-being,” Ellmers noted.

With a background in healthcare and as a Registered Nurse, Ellmers  worked with Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.), to released H.R. 5083, the Audit Improvement and Reform Act (aka, the AIR Act), which aims to reform CMS’s audit program. NCAMES president David Chandler thanked Ellmers for the work she has done and pledge the support of NCAMES to assist in garnering support for H.R. 5083.

Joey Tart, Family Medical Supply, told the group of about 75 strong that this is the first time that our industry has had a champion like Ellmers who understands the industry’s position, and has actually introduced a bill to help the industry. 

“NCAMES will do everything we can to gain sponsorships for this critical piece of legislation in the short weeks ahead,” Beth Bowen, executive director of NCAMES added.