On November 2, 2017, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a proposed rule in the Federal Register entitled “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2019.”  Among the provisions in the proposed rule is a section that would provide individual states with increased flexibility in […]

We are pleased to share that the AOPA funded research by Dr. Michael Dillon describing the incident rate and prevalence of partial foot amputation and how this compares to transtibial amputation has now been published in the journal Systematic Reviews.  The article is freely available at the link below. https://systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13643-017-0626-0.  

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the new HCPCS codes for 2018, and there were only a few minor changes. Below is a complete breakdown of the code changes which will be effective for claims with a date of service on or after January 1, 2018.  New Codes  Changes in Code […]

AOPA is pleased to announce that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed a change to the DMEPOS Quality Standards that addresses AOPA’s concern regarding the recent DME MAC/PDAC interpretation of the term “molded to patient model” when used to describe custom fabricated diabetic shoe inserts.  The proposed change to the quality […]

The October 16, 2017 Federal Register included a proposed rule published by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that intends to “reorganize and update the current regulations related to prosthetic and rehabilitative items, primarily to clarify eligibility for prosthetic and other rehabilitative items and services, and to define the types of items and services available to eligible […]

The Agency for Healthcare Quality Research (AHRQ), in conjunction with a contractor known as an Evidence-based Practice Center, has released a draft systematic review of current scientific literature that address the use of lower limb prostheses in the United States.  The Systematic review was originally announced in September of 2016 with a request for additional […]

On October 19, AOPA hosted a press event at the National Press Club in Washington DC, to share the important research from the RAND Corporation on the economic value of advanced prosthetics. Dr. Soren Mattke from RAND presented the findings of this recently published research that concluded that microprocessor knees are associated with improvements in physical function […]

The October 16, 2017 Federal Register included a proposed rule published by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that intends to “reorganize and update the current regulations related to prosthetic and rehabilitative items, primarily to clarify eligibility for prosthetic and other rehabilitative items and services, and to define the types of items and services available […]

On October 12, President Trump undertook a non-legislative overhaul of the country’s healthcare insurance program, and some significant administrative ‘repeal’ of the Affordable Care Act. Two major executive actions comprise this effort: (1) clearing the path for sale of “short-term” insurance plans that do not have full ACA essential health benefits and other rules, at […]