On Friday, August 29, 2025, AOPA submitted formal comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in response to its annual proposed rule that sets regulatory guidelines for Medicare coverage of Home Health and DMEPOS services. The Calendar Year 2026 proposed rule included some challenging provisions relative to the Medicare supplier accreditation process, the future of the Medicare competitive bidding program, and proposed exemptions for providers with high success rates in the Medicare prior authorization program.
AOPA submitted independent comments that are consistent with those submitted by the O&P Alliance and several of AOPA’s association/society partners. AOPA’s comments focused on the three main issues below:
- Opposition to changes to the CMS accreditation cycle from the current three year cycle to an annual cycle
- Opposition to new rounds of DMEPOS competitive bidding
- Support for exemption from Medicare prior authorization for providers with demonstrated success rates. AOPA’s comments expressed a need to allow exempted providers to elect to voluntarily continue to submit for Medicare prior authorization if they choose to.
View AOPA’s comments here.
If you have any questions, please contact Joe McTernan at jmcternan@AOPAnet.org.