Home Health & Hospice Week

Fraud demo agencies should receive their reenrollment letters by end of January.

Durable medical equipment suppliers who recently bid should know their status in a month or two.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services plans to conclude its bid evaluations for competitive bidding in December or January, then will start the contracting process, said CMS' Joel Kaiser in the Nov. 28 home health Open Door Forum.

The agency will announce the winning bidders in March, according to the updated timeline on the competitive bidding Web site. Then the program will begin in July.

Next round: CMS will announce the 70 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) subject to bidding in Round Two "in the near future," Kaiser told attendees. The agency will also set out the new bid categories.

The accreditation deadline for Round One has passed and CMS hasn't yet set the deadline for Round Two, added CMS' Sandra Bastinelli.

Watch for: Suppliers residing in the fraud demonstration areas around Los Angeles and Miami should expect their letters requiring reenrollment by the end of next month, said CMS' Frank Whelan. One-quarter of suppliers should already have received the letters from the National Supplier Clearinghouse.

Note: The bidding site is at www.cms.hhs.gov/CompetitiveAcqforDMEPOS.