WASHINGTON, D.C. – AAHomecare has expanded the scope of its relationship with legal and public policy stalwart Foley Hoag to strengthen its advocacy work on significant coverage issues for Non-Invasive Ventilators (NIVs) and Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs).
AAHomecare began working in earnest in July 2021 to prevent Medicare Advantage payers from applying overly restrictive coverage criteria for NIVs. Our efforts have included directly engaging CMS on the issue, enlisting members of Congress to help make our case, outreach to Medical Directors at major payers, and generating media coverage. In many cases, these efforts have been supported by the ALS Association and the leading respiratory physician group CHEST.
On the CGM front, AAHomecare has been working with state-level stakeholders to keep Medicaid coverage for these devices under the DME benefit, rather than as a product solely provided through the pharmacy channel.
“Protecting patient access to the full range of clinically proven products and services is critically important to HME providers and the millions of patients and caregivers we collectively serve,” said Tom Ryan, AAHomecare president & CEO. “Wherever AAHomecare sees the connection between providers and patients threatened or diminished in any meaningful way, we’re going to make that a priority.”
“Foley Hoag’s expertise in Medicare and Medicaid policy is already helping us sharpen our arguments by identifying established laws and regulations that support our advocacy goals,” added Ryan. “In addition, their relationships with leaders at CMS and in Congress will help us reach the most important decision-makers on these issues.
“AAHomecare has great credibility in the Congress and HHS regulatory agencies such as CMS,” shared Thomas Barker, partner and co-chair of the Healthcare Department at Foley Hoag. “As the American health care system evolves to new payment and regulatory models, it is crucial that AAHomecare members have representation that will protect their interests in this evolution. I am looking forward to working with the organization and its members on this engagement.”
Enlisting Patients and Caregivers to Support NIV and CGM Access
As we first shared in our Sept. 4 Insider, AAHomecare has launched two portals to collect end user and family caregiver stories about the real-world impact of policy changes for non-invasive ventilators (NIV) and continuous glucose monitors (CGM). These stories will be used in advocacy efforts to educate payers and governmental agencies on access issues and proposed solutions.
Suppliers can direct customers to the following pages to upload their stories, either written or via video:
- CGM access issues: org/Access-Issues-Upload-Form-CGM
- NIV access issues: org/Access-Issues-Upload-Form-NIV
First-hand testimony will add a powerful component to our advocacy efforts by showing the critical importance of these products to patients and caregivers.
