Non-durable DME payments?
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
10-year freeze in consumer price index for durable medical equipment, orthotics and prosthetics is folded into omnibus tax package (S 1054) approved by the Senate May 15. The provision, along with language addressing application of deductibles and coinsurance for clinical diagnostic lab tests and a reduction of the Average Wholesale Price for outpatient drugs, is intended to offset $25 bil. in Medicare payment increases to rural health providers. Included in the bill's reimbursement enhancements is a two-year extension of "reasonable cost payments" for certain diagnostic tests delivered in sole community hospitals. Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced the amendment, which cleared the Senate earlier in the day in an 86-12 vote...