Round One rebidders have sent a number of questions, trying to understand how capacity and weights impact the DMEPOS bidding program. Reviewing what happened in the original Round One bid, it is clear that some providers placed uneducated "blind bids" that unnecessarily affected items that should not have been lowered.

For example: The 2008 bid program payment amounts for the oxygen contents codes, dropped nearly $17 (From $77 to $60) in many of the CBAs. It made little sense that those items would drop $17, since the bids were placed in the summer of 2007 and those items first became effective 15 months later, in January 2009.

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Over 4,000 business were removed from Medicare in Round One areas

Earlier this week, the Government Accountability Office released a study on the variety of problems with Round One DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program (CBP). The program ran for two weeks, but was stopped by Congress on July 15, 2008 because of concerns about unqualified bid winners and patient access issues.
For the first time details which Medicare refused to confirm have been made public. Medicare has also acknowledged problems that industry associations have been warning legislators about including: unlicensed bid winners, inexperienced bid winners and a reduction in the majority of existing providers in each of the Competitive Bidding Areas (CBAs). Ironically, the report was released as companies in nine metropolitan areas are preparing to re-bid, under an almost identical set of rules in the first round of the program. Once the program is re-implemented, only bid winners can provide the majority of Durable Medical Equipment items for those local Medicare beneficiaries.

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Senate version of Healthcare reform has new twists

Last night the Senate announced an agreement with liberal and moderate Democrats that would allow them to gain the necessary votes to pass a Senate Health Care Bill. To the surprise of many, this includes a change to Medicare eligibility. Instead of moving the age of eligibility from 65 years old to 67 of 69 years (to save money), the agreement includes a move to lower the age of eligibility for Medicare benefits to 55 years old. This is a major expansion of Medicare's rolls.

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In a heated political season, and in the shadow of looming CMS decisions, our industry suffers because legislators and the national media do not understand exactly the services we provide and the care we give.

Wrought with allegations of fraud and unprofessionalism, and a national perception that we are overpaid deliverymen, it is NECESSARY that we, the legitimate businesses in the industry, ACT!

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On Thursday night, the United States Senate considered approving House Bill H.R. 6331, the "Doc Fix" Bill. The Senators could not agree to suspend the rules to consider the bill because of reported certainty that the excessive last minute add-ons to the House Bill would force President Bush to veto the legislation. Although this means the delay of the Competitive Bidding Program was not approved on Thursday night, it does not mean we have lost.

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