On the heels of last week’s news that CMS sent a letter to Montana providers admitting access issues, the Natioanl Association for Independent Medical Equipment Suppliers is reporting that “reliable sources in Washington” have said that CMS has developed a color-coded system to track areas where patients are having difficulty accessing home medical equipment and related services.
NAIMES reports that the system ranks geographies’ HME access by color with red on end of the spectrum indicating patients are having chronic access issues in that area, and blue at the other end representing areas not experiencing access issues. That association added that it has also learned that access issues are occuring in California, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Utah, South Dakota, Virginia, Nevada and Idaho.
“The very fact that they (CMS) created such a color-coded system proves that the access issues predicted by the industry have become reality,” said NAIMES President Wayne Stanfield.
NAIMES also reported that it has been told that CMS has said it has a “national DME company” that will take up patients that have lost their providers due to access issues. The national association said the company in question had “deep enough pockets” to accept and support patients while any related reimbursement/billing issues were being resolved. NAIMES said the issue of such a situation existing was raised on an AAHomecare teleconference of state leaders, and that “one participant on the call stated that Apria and Lincare both denied any such arrangement.”
“These two events raise serious issues for small independent suppliers,” the NAIMES statement read. “CMS policies based on laws passed by Congress are causing access issues. These issues are being addressed by CMS by becoming a referral source and directing patients to a single supplier.
NAIMES said that it has made a formal request for this color coded grid and the number of revoked supplier numbers has been made through its local Congressional district office.
