Get Ready for Competitive Bidding!
The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA),
enacted on July 15, 2008, made limited changes to the Medicare Durable
Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive
Bidding Program, including a requirement that competition to re-bid Round 1
occur in 2009. On January 16, 2009, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services (CMS) issued an interim final rule with comment period that
incorporates into regulations only those provisions of MIPPA related to the
DMEPOS competitive bidding program that are self-implementing and necessary
to conduct the Round 1 rebid competition in 2009. That rule became
effective on April 18, 2009. To ensure that suppliers have ample time to
prepare for the competition, CMS has announced the following next steps for
the program:
SPRING 2009
CMS BEGINS PRE-BIDDING SUPPLIER AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
PROGRAM ADVISORY AND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE (PAOC) MEETING (JUNE 4, 2009)
SUMMER 2009
CMS ANNOUNCES BIDDING SCHEDULE/SCHEDULE OF EDUCATION EVENTS
CMS BEGINS BIDDER EDUCATION CAMPAIGN
BIDDER REGISTRATION PERIOD TO OBTAIN USER IDS AND PASSWORDS BEGINS
FALL 2009
BIDDING BEGINS
If you are a supplier interested in bidding, prepare now – don’t wait!
UPDATE YOUR NSC FILES: DMEPOS supplier standard # 2 requires ALL
suppliers to notify the National Supplier Clearinghouse (NSC) of any change
to the information provided on the Medicare enrollment application
(CMS-855S) within 30 days of the change. DMEPOS suppliers should use the
3/09 version of the CMS-855S and should review and update:
• The list of products and services found in section 2.D;
• The Authorized Official(s) information in sections 6A and 15; and
• The correspondence address in section 2A2 of the CMS-855S.
This is especially important for suppliers who will be involved in the
Medicare DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program. These suppliers must ensure
the information listed on their supplier files is accurate to enable
participation in this program. Information and instructions on how to
submit a change of information may be found on the NSC Web site
(http://www.palmettogba.com/nsc) and by following this path: Supplier
Enrollment/Change of Information/Change of Information Guide.
GET LICENSED: Suppliers submitting a bid for a product category in a
competitive bidding area (CBA) must meet all DMEPOS state licensure
requirements and other applicable state licensure requirements, if any, for
that product category for every state in that CBA. Prior to submitting a
bid for a CBA and product category, the supplier must have a copy of the
applicable state licenses on file with the NSC. As part of the bid
evaluation we will verify with the NSC that the supplier has on file a copy
of all applicable required state license(s).
GET ACCREDITED: CMS would like to remind DMEPOS suppliers again that
time is running out to obtain accreditation by the September 30, 2009
deadline or risk having their Medicare Part B billing privileges revoked on
October 1, 2009. Accreditation takes an average of 6 months to complete.
It is very important for DMEPOS suppliers to contact an accreditation
organization right away to obtain information about the accreditation
process and submit an application. Suppliers must be accredited for a
product category in order to submit a bid for that product category. CMS
cannot contract with suppliers that are not accredited by a CMS-approved
accreditation organization.
Further information on the DMEPOS accreditation requirements along with a
list of the accreditation organizations and those professionals and other
persons exempted from accreditation may be found at the CMS website:
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicareProviderSupEnroll/01_Overview.asp .
GET BONDED: CMS would like to remind DMEPOS suppliers that certain
suppliers will need to obtain and submit a surety bond by the October 2,
2009 deadline or risk having their Medicare Part B billing privileges
revoked. Suppliers subject to the bonding requirement must be bonded in
order to bid in the DMEPOS competitive bidding program. A list of
sureties from which a bond can be secured is found at the Department of the
Treasury’s “List of Certified (Surety Bond) Companies;” the web site is
located at:
www.fms.treas.gov/c570/c570_a-z.html.
Visit the CMS web site at www.cms.hhs.gov/CompetitiveAcqforDMEPOS/ for
the latest information on the DMEPOS competitive bidding program.
To view the Press Release, please click:
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/apps/media/press_releases.asp.