Home Health & Hospice Week

Official deadline to comment has passed, but you can still speak up.

Home medical equipment suppliers hoping to win a phase one competitive bidding contract hit another roadblock this month--but there may be a way to break through.

Background: The problem stems from incongruities on the forms bidders filled out last fall, before the 2007 bidding deadline. Palmetto GBA, the competitive bidding implementation contractor (CBIC), sent certified letters in December to home medical equipment providers to notify the bidders that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services questioned the legitimacy of one of more of their bids, reports The VGM Group. The suppliers were asked to respond no later than Jan. 7, 2008, or risk disqualification in the product category in question.

VGM and others in the industry suspect that many of the recipients of the letter may have erred in their bid submission, submitting a monthly rental amount rather than a purchase price, Walt Gorski, vice president for government affairs of the American Association for Homecare, tells Eli.

Gorski, who alerted CMS to the problem, says CMS continues to suggest to recipients of the letter that "it is important to note that bid amounts may not now be revised." Still, AAHomecare and VGM have advised all providers who have unintentionally bid on a monthly rental bid basis "to immediately contact CMS per the instructions included on the letter."

Best strategy: Here's Waterloo, IA-based VGM's advice on how to respond if you received a letter:

• Attach the relevant acquisition documentation.

• Include a detailed letter explaining the issues with "Form B," (e.g., the two columns indicating "RR" and "1 unit = 1 month") and state that clearly your intention was to bid the item at the "Purchase" amount (that is, at 10X of the submitted bid).

• Politely request CMS' consideration to accept the bid as 'bona fide.'