DME Question

[midwifebiller]

This question is for all the DME billers in our group.

We bill for homebirth midwives throughout the country.  During labor and delivery they use a variety of supplies, some disposable and some not.  There is one midwife in CA who is billing the non-disposable supplies as DME as a way to get some reimbursement.  Is this something I should be looking into for our clients?  I would love to find a way to obtain reimbursement for supplies used during labor and delivery at home.  Supplies used in a hospital setting are routinely reimbursed....

[Michele]

When a delivery is done in the hospital, the hospital can bill for the use of the facility and all supplies needed.  When a birth is done at home, no facility fees.  However, it does seem as if the supplies should be covered.  I would check with a couple of the major insurance carriers to see if the midwife can charge for supplies.  With Medicare they would have to enroll as a supplier but I'm sure you don't have many Medicare patients delivering babies.  I would probably start with BCBS, or UHC.

Michele