Non-contract suppliers must furnish bidding notification to patients.
The durable medical equipment industry is keeping up the fight against competitive bidding, but the program seems to have momentum on its side.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced 325 contract suppliers for round one of competitive bidding, which will commence July 1 in 10 metro areas. Those suppliers received 1,345 contracts, CMS says. A list of the suppliers is at
www.dmecompetitivebid.com/cs.
CMS chose the winning bidders from a pool of more than 1,000 suppliers who submitted nearly 6,200 bids. The bid prices will slash Medicare payment rates 26 percent below current rates, according to CMS.
The small business issue: CMS appears to be trying to head off some common criticisms of the program in its announcement. "Bids were evaluated to ensure there would be a sufficient number of suppliers, including small suppliers, to meet the needs of beneficiaries living in the [competitive bidding areas]," the agency notes in a release.
The monopoly issue: Suppliers not chosen for round one can subcontract with bid winners and re-bid for round two, CMS added.
Suppliers in the 10 round one CBAs aren't the only ones who should care about bidding, urges the American Association for Homecare. "This issue affects everyone in the home care community, whether you are in Round One, Round Two, or beyond," the trade group emphasizes in a message to members.
Why HHAs care: Even non-DME home care organizations need to care about bidding, adds the National Association for Home Care & Hos-pice. "This program may change the DME, prosthetic and orthotic suppliers that home health patients will need to use for their equipment," the association notes. And it "will prohibit home health agencies from providing DME to their patients unless they are awarded a competitive bid contract."
CMS has revamped its bidding web site, which has a new address at
www.cms.hhs.gov/dmeposcompetitivebid. And it's issued a new chapter (36) to the Medicare Claims Processing Manual, which includes bidding policies and instructions, noted CMS' Joel Kaiser in the May 13 Open Door Forum for home care providers. Medicare Obligations Continue For Non-Winners Don't miss: Suppliers who didn't win bids and choose not to grandfather eligible bid items can't just wash their hands of Medicare business for those items, CMS says in the new manual addition. "Non-contract suppliers are responsible for providing notification to Medicare customers of their plans to either furnish grandfathered items or discontinue furnishing competitively bid item(s) that the beneficiary has been receiving from the supplier," AA-Homecare notes.
"Suppliers need to make these grandfathering decisions in the very near future and inform beneficiaries," Kaiser instructed in the forum that drew more than 600 participants.
Resources: The new chapter's first installment is at
www.cms.hhs.gov/transmittals/downloads/R1502CP.pdf. [...]
