CMS Briefs Congress on Competitive Bidding

WASHINGTON — The American Association for Homecare reported last week that senior CMS officials gave a March 9 briefing on the competitive bidding program to members and staff of the House Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce committees.

According to the association, "The briefing was designed to sell Congress on the improvements that have been made to the bidding program, in spite of the fact that the program is still fundamentally flawed and will have a disastrous effect on both home care patients and providers."

AAHomecare said a member of the briefing audience gave the following bid timeline that CMS officials sketched out:

Round 1

• CMS will announce Round 1 winners in June 2010.
• New contracts and prices will be implemented Jan. 1, 2011.
• CMS will hold a Program Advisory and Oversight Committee (PAOC) meeting on March 17 (Wednesday) "as mandated by law" to focus on the Round 1 transition period and show plans for beneficiary education, including where beneficiaries can go for services and what has changed for beneficiaries.

Round 2

• CMS is extending review times due to the increase in MSAs from Round 1 to 79 metropolitan areas in Round 2.
• Rulemaking: CMS expects that changes to the bidding program will require the agency to go through the rulemaking process. CMS anticipates that a proposed rule will be published in Summer 2010, with a final rule published in Fall 2010. The rule will include product categories and education requirements for Round 2.
• Winter 2010: CMS will announce the bid schedule and begin registration.
• Spring 2011: CMS will end registration and begin bidding.
• Summer 2011: CMS will end bidding and begin the review process.
• Fall 2011: CMS will end the review process, notify HME providers, and begin evaluating bids.
• Spring 2012: CMS will announce winning providers and begin contract bids.
• Summer 2012: CMS will announce contract rates.
• Round 2 pricing will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2013.

"It is imperative that HME advocates continue to push hard to educate their members of Congress about the misguided bidding program and add cosponsors to H.R. 3790, which would eliminate the program in a fiscally responsible manner," AAHomecare urged.

Following the association's March 3 Lobby Day on Capitol Hill, the official number of cosponsors for the bill today stands at 173.