Home Health & Hospice Week

CMS names committee a week-and-a-half before first meeting. Its duties may not be crystal clear quite yet, but the competitive bidding program advisory and oversight committee has been unveiled.
 
Putting together the 21-member PAOC, which will meet for the first time Oct. 6, is the next step toward implementing Medicare competitive bidding for durable medical equipment, prosthetics orthotics and supplies. The committee will advise the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on bidding's implementation and establishing standards for participating suppliers, CMS says in a release.
 
"We all want seniors and disabled individuals to have access to quality health care at the best possible price," says CMS Administrator Mark B. McClellan. "This committee will help us get the process right."
 
The committee is larger than expected - out of 150 to 200 applications, CMS choose 21 members instead of the 12 to 15 originally planned. The supplier and manufacturer community pushed for more representation, and CMS listened, observers say.
 
"We advocated for a larger size," says one trade association spokesperson. "You get more viewpoints."
 
The expansion to 21 members was positive, agrees attorney Seth Lundy with Fulbright & Jaworski in Washington, DC. "It's a reasonably broad sector of individuals."
 
But suppliers hoped to see more direct representation on the committee, Lundy contends. "We were a bit disappointed," he says.
 
The industry was hoping to see one direct rep for every item targeted for initial competitive bidding. Lundy says. Wheelchair and respiratory equipment suppliers have direct representation, but suppliers of diabetic supplies don't, he points out. Neither do enteral nutrition suppliers.
 
The Power Mobility Coalition is pleased with the amount of wheelchair representation on the committee, including manufacturers and suppliers, notes the PMC's Erik Sokol. The trade group is glad "people who understand the issues have been appointed."
 
But the question is whether CMS will heed the PAOC's recommendations on bidding. Sokol fears the committee could become a rubber stamp, approving whatever CMS wants.
 
CMS "took the time to establish a good group of folks; I hope they take the time to listen to them," Sokol tells Eli.
 
CMS is under no legal obligation to adhere to the committee's recommendations, Lundy notes. "I'm not sure how much influence the committee will have."
 
Still, suppliers applaud the agency's willingness to seek outside involvement in the committee. "It's a positive trend," Lundy cheers.