Are You in Round 2?

News

ARLINGTON, Va. — A provision in the nation’s new health
reform law expands Round 2 of the DMEPOS competitive bidding
program from the next 70 largest metropolitan statistical areas
to an additional 21. Including the nine bidding areas in Round 1,
there will now be a total of 100 MSAs in the program.

Based on a timeline
from CMS, pricing for Round 1 is expected in June with bid winners
to be announced in September and implementation in January
2011.

This fall, CMS will reveal the product categories to be included
in Round 2, and bidding will be conducted in 2011. After payment
amounts and contract winners are announced in 2012, Round 2 will go
live in January of 2013.

The American Association for Homecare has put together a list of
potential MSAs, ranked by population size from larger to smaller,
which could be subject to the bid expansion.

According to the association’s newsletter, “Since we don’t know
what population numbers or other factors CMS may use, this list is
speculation based on our understanding of how CMS may implement the
provision. There is a higher likelihood that the MSAs at the top of
the list would be included, but less certainty the closer you get
to the bottom of the list since population size may have changed in
recent years.

“This list should serve as a reminder that the bidding program
will affect all providers, some sooner than others, and more
quickly than originally proposed.”

AAHomecare’s list of potential target cities follows:

  • Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
  • Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
  • Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH
  • Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
  • Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
  • St. Louis, MO-IL
  • Baltimore, MD
  • Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR
  • Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA
  • Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY
  • Rochester, NY
  • Tucson, AZ
  • Honolulu, HI
  • Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
  • Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA
  • Worcester, MA
  • Springfield, MA
  • Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice, FL
  • Stockton, CA
  • Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY
  • Boise City, ID

The next three on the list might include:

  • Madison, WI
  • Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA
  • Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA

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