Reimbursement for durable medical equipment

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Health Economics
• Public Health Policy

Background:

• Durable medical equipment (DME) use in homes was formally recognized by Medicare legislation.
• Statutes have evolved to improve administrative, supplier, and user interactions regarding DME.
• Federal expenditures for DME rental and purchase costs were analyzed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze Federal expenditures for DME reimbursement.
• To establish a benchmark for future research and policy considerations.
• To detail characteristics of collected DME data.

Main Methods:

• Data extracted from Beneficiary History Files of five Part B carriers.
• Analysis covered 11 geographic areas from 1976-1977.
• Tabulation and analysis of 1.3 million records from 400,000 beneficiaries.

Main Results:

• Exploratory research yielded data on Medicare reimbursement for DME.
• Analysis included equipment type, rental/purchase decisions, charges, and Medicare reimbursement.
• Provided a benchmark for future research and policy.

Conclusions:

• The study established a foundational dataset for understanding DME expenditures.
• Findings inform future policy and research on Medicare reimbursement for DME.
• Highlights the importance of analyzing administrative data for healthcare policy.