Before the bid window was opened in 2007, the buzz around "How to Bid" seminars was that the 1999 Demonstration Project in Polk County and the 2001 Demonstration Project in San Antonio boasted a 17%-20% savings to Medicare's DMEPOS program. Despite the fact that in the Polk County Demonstration Project: two bid winners filed for bankruptcy, only half of the 16 bid winners in Round One of the Demonstration Project decided to bid again in Round Two, and none of the bid winners in either Demonstration Project were required to be accredited, the Demonstration Project is the basis for running and re-running the same flawed competitive bidding program.

The truth of the matter is that because of significant cuts to oxygen, not including the 36 month cap, most of the utilized oxygen items in 2009 are significantly lower than the lowest bid price in the demonstration projects.

The table below explains that except for a 46 cent difference in an oxygen concentrator in Polk County in 1999, all of the most utilized oxygen items in 2009 are lower today, compared to the lowest bid prices from the Demonstration Projects.

Additionally, today's oxygen providers are reimbursed an average of 23% lower, than the pre-bid, fee schedule in both Polk County in 1999 and San Antonio in 2001.

After reviewing the facts it is unrealistic to believe providers could take more cuts while living with increased costs, increased quality standards, mandatory accreditation, and a mandatory surety bond. The competitive bidding program cannot work in DMEPOS and will only reduce quality of service and products, reduce a patient's access to care, and diminish a vital community resource, a necessary and cost-saving, branch of the healthcare system.