Home Health & Hospice Week

Suppliers get more time for accreditation.

The feds say they are already planning round two of competitive bidding for home medical equipment, but HME suppliers are putting up a good fight during round one--an effort that led late last month to deadline extensions.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced on July 27 that it would extend the deadlines for bid submission, registration and accreditation for the first phase of the Medicare durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS) competitive bidding program.

New deadlines: All bids are now due by 9 p.m. ET on Sept. 25, CMS says. The registration deadline is Aug. 27, and the accreditation deadline is Oct. 31.

Bids were originally due no later than July 13, but CMS has extended the deadline twice before opting for the 60-day extension.

Phase one of competitive bidding affects suppliers in 10 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs): Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC; Cincinnati-Mid-dletown, OH-KY-IN; Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH; Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX; Kansas City, MO-KS; Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, FL; Or-lando, FL; Pittsburgh, PA; Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA; San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. CMS plans to expand the program into 70 additional MSAs in 2009 and into more areas after 2009.

Second chance: "Suppliers that have already submitted their bids may revise and resubmit their bids until the new deadline," CMS said in an announcement on its Web site.

Caveat: Suppliers that resubmit bids must also submit a new certification statement, instructs CMS.

Keep Up The Fight

"The [extension] announcement comes in reaction to the significant volume of complaints from home medical equipment providers and Congressional pressure identifying the shortcomings of this program," says the American Association for Homecare in a bulletin to members.

Congressional influence is likely playing no small part in securing the delay--and could continue to be a powerful force as CMS tries to implement the program, says Jeffrey Baird, attorney with Brown & Fortunato in Amarillo, TX.

Protest: On July 26, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) spoke out against competitive bidding at the Congressional confirmation hearing for Kerry Weems, President Bush's candidate for CMS administrator, AA-Homecare's Walt Gorski tells Eli.

Sen. Roberts, who pushed CMS for a 90-day extension to competitive bidding deadlines, spoke for about 20 minutes during the hearing, outlining concerns about the program expressed in the Hobson-Tanner bill (H.R. 1845). That legislation, which now has 107 co-sponsors in the House, would protect patient access to home care and allow qualified small businesses to participate in the program. A Senate companion bill (S. 1428) has 11 co-sponsors.

Setback: Medicare legislation set for a vote last week did not contain Hobson-Tanner provisions such as the one that would allow any willing (and qualified) provider to participate at the winning bid price, reports Gorski. "This should serve as a wakeup call for the field to get involved," he says.

Last chance: In addition to giving suppliers a chance to fine-tune their bids and troubleshoot problems with the CMS bidding system, the latest extensions should help "a handful" of suppliers who want to bid but were behind in the accreditation process, notes Mary Ellen Conway of Capital Healthcare Group in Bethesda, MD.

Suppliers Not Happy With Bidding Process

Participants in the July 18 Open Door Forum for home care peppered CMS officials with questions about competitive bidding. Many suppliers voiced their frustration with the bidding process' technical components.

CMS official Joel Kaiser reminded listeners about the bidding system's time-out function after 12 hours. "Remember to back out of system before 12 hours is up or lose your data," he warned. Be sure to save your data before backing out.

Also, just ignore the screen that pops up and asks you to change your User ID, Kaiser advised.

Positive development: CMS will now allow you to submit the list of items you'll furnish, including model numbers, makes and manufacturers, in a separate Excel file, Kaiser related.

Industry reps remained skeptical that all suppliers who wanted to bid would be able to do so by the deadline. AAHomecare's Gorski asked CMS officials about the agency's contingency plan if the bidding system crashes on the eve of the due date for bids.

While Kaiser didn't expect such a system failure, "if there was a crash, we'd have to consider what to do about it," he allowed. v

Note: For more information about the new extensions, go to www.dmecompetitivebid.com.