Medicare to Allow Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants to Certify the Medical Need for Diabetic Shoes in Limited Circumstances

AOPA, in collaboration with other healthcare organizations, has actively supported the inclusion of nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) to serve as certifying practitioners under the Medicare diabetic shoe...

CMS Announces Single Payment Amounts for Medicare Competitive Bidding of OTS Knee and OTS Spinal Orthoses

On October 27, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the Single Payment Amounts (SPAs) for select Off-the-Shelf (OTS) knee and OTS spinal orthosis codes included in...

2021 Medicare O&P Fee Schedule Update

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has published an update on the economic factors that are used to calculate the Medicare O&P fee schedule.  The annual Medicare fee...

Important Information on Medicare Accelerated and Advance Payments Program

Congress has passed a short-term spending bill to keep government programs operating at 2020 funding levels through December 11. Included in the 115-page bill are important revisions to the Medicare...

AFO/KAFO Policy Article Revision

Recently, AOPA asked the DME MACs to clarify this existing language in the AFO/KAFO Policy Article related to custom fabricated braces: In addition, if the item is custom fabricated, a...

COVID-19 Update: Provider Relief Fund Reporting

On September 19, 2020, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released guidance articulating how to account for lost revenues and expenses and addressing recipient reporting requirements for those...

The 2020 American Orthotic and Prosthetic Annual National Assembly Begins This Week

Washington, DC – The American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association (AOPA) will virtually host 1,000 orthotic, prosthetic, and pedorthic professionals for the 2020 AOPA Virtual National Assembly starting tomorrow, September 9-12.

DME MACs Clarify AFO/KAFO Policy Article Language Regarding Custom Fabricated Orthoses

The DME MACs have recently clarified language in the AFO/KAFO Policy Article that currently states the following: MISCELLANEOUS In addition, if the item is custom fabricated, a complete and clear...

Member Research Initiative Highlight: Hanger

The American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation recently published a study suggesting that early delivery of a prosthesis following amputation is associated with up to a 25 percent reduction in overall...

CGS Post Payment Review for L0650 Announcement

In July, we informed you that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the resumption of certain audit activity beginning on August 3, 2020. CMS clarified that they...