The Senate has passed HR 3663, the pharmacy DME accreditation extension deadline. Under the bill, which is now headed to President Obama for signature, the new pharmacy accreditation deadline will be January 1, 2010. As stated, however, we hope that the health care reform bill enacted before that time will include some exemption for pharmacies from the accreditation requirements.
The information sent to members on Friday, which is based on NCPA discussions with CMS, continues to provide the best advice to pharmacies on how to proceed in billing for Medicare DME.
Special thanks go to Senators Baucus, Grassley, Tester and Brownback for all their help on this issue.
Bill Popomaronis, R.Ph., NCPA vice president, home health and long term care pharmacy services, provides his thoughts and explanations on the latest DME information from CMS.
