Medicare Announces Updates to the Competitive Bidding Program
for Certain Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced the delay of the effective date for the interim final rule entitled “Medicare Program; Changes to the Competitive Acquisition of Certain Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics and Supplies (DMEPOS) by Certain Provisions of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA).” The effective date has been delayed from February 17, 2009, to April 18, 2009, to allow department officials the opportunity for further review of the issues of law and policy raised by the rule.
The interim final rule, published in the Federal Register on January 16, 2009, implements certain MIPPA provisions that (1) delay implementation of Round 1 of the competitive bidding program, (2) require CMS to conduct a second Round 1 competition in 2009, and (3) mandate certain changes for the Round 1 rebid and subsequent rounds of the program, including the development of a process for providing feedback to suppliers regarding missing financial documentation and the requirement that contractors disclose to CMS information regarding subcontracting relationships. We note that the original comment period on the rule remains unchanged; the public has until March 17, 2009, to submit comments on the substantive policy issues discussed in the rule. We will address such comments in future rulemaking.
The rule may be viewed at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/DMEPOSCompetitiveBid/.
Next Steps:
CMS is required to start the Round 1 Rebid competition in 2009. In the coming months, announcements and updates containing important information about the DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program will be provided on this website and on the CMS website.