03/25/2016

Ohio Medicaid Files Wheelchair Rule, Target Implementation Date of June 1

OAMES is pleased to report that after years of work by OAMES CRT workgroup volunteers, Board members and association staff, the Ohio Medicaid wheelchair rule was filed on March 15 and the regulatory process is underway for a June 1 implementation date.  This has been a work-in-progress in earnest since January 2014, and off-and-on discussions for several years prior. 

Mark Rogers with ODM Health Plan Policy announced this news at OAMES Spring Medicaid Training Seminar on March 16.  The rule and its related CMN was filed with JCARR after wrapping up an extensive review effort with numerous stakeholders and reaching a favorable conclusion.

A public hearing for the rule is scheduled on April 15 in Columbus and OAMES will be participating to show support for the final draft of the rule and CMN.  One of the key accomplishments of this collaborative work over the years has been to educate ODM about the problem of adopting a practice of basing Medicaid reimbursement off of Medicare single payment amounts (bid rates).  During the oxygen rule discussions in the past and more recently, the wheelchair rule, we were successful in getting ODM to not adopt bid rates (or percentages off of bid rates) recognizing the flaws of the controversial Medicare program and the diverse needs of Medicaid consumers.

If you have any questions, please contact Kam Yuricich OAMES executive director at kam@oames.org.