Competing Bid News Feeds RSS
|
|
Bidding To Start In Fall! |
|
Written by Chris Rice
|
|
Friday, 29 May 2009 |
|
MEDICARE BEGINS SUPPLIER EDUCATION FOR THE COMPETITIVE BIDDING PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN MEDICAL EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES
SUPPLIER BID WINDOW TO OPEN IN FALL 2009
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced the next steps in the implementation of the Round One Rebid of the Medicare Competitive Bidding Program for durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS), including the general timeline for opening the bid window in the fall of this year.
“Congress mandated that competition for the Round One Rebid occur in 2009. CMS is announcing the next steps to implement the DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program now to give the supplier community ample time to prepare as well as inform other stakeholders,” said Charlene Frizzera, CMS Acting Administrator. “This program generated substantial savings for Medicare and beneficiaries who used these items and supplies in the competitive bidding areas last summer and is consistent with CMS’ goal to pay appropriately for Medicare items and services.”
CMS will now begin general “pre-bidding” supplier awareness and education efforts on key steps suppliers need to take now to be ready for registration and bidding including getting appropriate State licenses, updating Medicare enrollment files with the National Supplier Clearinghouse and getting accredited and bonded. On June 4, 2009, CMS will convene a meeting of the DMEPOS competitive bidding Program Advisory and Oversight Committee (PAOC) before announcing the detailed timeline for the program in the summer. The bidder registration period is expected to begin this summer before bidding opens in the fall. CMS has made a number of process improvements for the Round One Rebid, such as an upgraded on-line bid submission system, early bidder education, and increased oversight of bidders that are new to product categories or competitive bidding areas to ensure they meet CMS’ requirements.
As part of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA), Congress enacted a temporary delay of the competitive bidding program and mandated certain changes in the program. The law required CMS to terminate contracts awarded in Round One and to conduct the competition for the Round One Rebid in 2009. Additionally, the new law establishes a financial document review process and a requirement for contract suppliers to report subcontract relationships with other suppliers. MIPPA also excluded certain DMEPOS items and areas from competitive bidding and provided an exemption to the program for hospitals that furnish certain types of DMEPOS items to their own patients. However, MIPPA did not fundamentally change the nature of the competitive bidding program as established by the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) or the existing competitive bidding regulations that were finalized in 2007.
From a beneficiary standpoint, there will be no immediate effect on the Medicare DMEPOS benefit and Medicare beneficiaries may continue to use their current DMEPOS suppliers at this time.
Round One of the DMEPOS competitive bidding program was implemented on July 1, 2008, in 10 competitive bidding areas, as mandated by the MMA. The Round One competitive bidding process resulted in average savings of 26 percent compared to the prices Medicare would have paid for the competitive bid items under the existing DMEPOS fee schedule in 2008. These lower prices would have directly translated to lower out-of-pocket costs for Medicare beneficiaries, who are responsible for 20 percent coinsurance on these items and services after any unmet Part B deductible.
|
|
Last Updated ( Friday, 29 May 2009 )
|
|
|
Written by Chris Rice
|
|
Friday, 17 April 2009 |
|
STATEMENT ON THE DMEPOS COMPETITIVE BIDDING PROGRAM
CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES
The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA), enacted on July 15, 2008, made limited changes to the competitive bidding program for Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics and Supplies (DMEPOS), including a requirement that the Secretary conduct a second competition to select suppliers for Round 1 in 2009. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an interim final rule with comment period (IFC) on January 16, 2009. The rule incorporates into existing regulations specific statutory requirements contained in MIPPA related to the competitive bidding program.
The Administration delayed the effective date for the IFC to allow CMS officials the opportunity for further review of the issues of law and policy raised by the rule. Based upon its review and on the need to ensure that CMS is able to meet the statutory deadlines contained in MIPPA, the Administration has concluded that the effective date should not be further delayed. The rule will become effective tomorrow, April 18, 2009. However, there will be no immediate effect on the Medicare DMEPOS benefit and Medicare beneficiaries may continue to use their current DMEPOS suppliers at this time.
During the comment period, CMS received many suggestions by a range of stakeholders to make further improvements to the competitive bidding program, such as ensuring that CMS’s processes for collecting and evaluating bids are fair and transparent. In the upcoming weeks, CMS will be issuing further guidance on the timeline for and bidding requirements related to the Round 1 re-bid. In finalizing these guidelines, CMS will continue to seek input from all affected stakeholders to ensure program implementation consistent with the legislative requirements. |
|
Last Updated ( Friday, 17 April 2009 )
|
|
|
Written by Chris Rice
|
|
Thursday, 17 July 2008 |
|
This was clipped from a (very long) article on California Healthline. The important part are the last three words:
CMS officials on Wednesday announced that beneficiaries can return to using any Medicare-approved supplier and that "payment rates in effect prior to July 1 are reinstated retroactively."
|
|
Last Updated ( Thursday, 17 July 2008 )
|
|
|
|
Marketplace Latest
|  = Ad with Photo |
Who's Online
|
