CMS Delays Announcement of Round 1 Bid Winners

BALTIMORE — On a regularly scheduled Open Door Forum this
afternoon, CMS said it would delay release of the list of contract
winners in the Round 1 rebid of competitive bidding. According
to an agency timeline, names of the winners were to have been
announced in September before implementation of the program in
January 2011.

CMS’ Michael Keane delivered the following announcement on the
open call:

“We wanted to provide an update on all the current
information we have at this time concerning the announcement of the
final list of the contract suppliers. In testing a new program
integrity tool on the list of potential competitive bidding
suppliers, a number of red flags were raised that require further
examination before CMS announces the final list.

“Given the past history of fraud in the DME arena,
especially in Miami, CMS believes it is prudent to take the time to
review these issues to ensure the program is best positioned to
serve Medicare beneficiaries. We expect to move forward with the
implementation of the program very soon, beginning with the
announcement of the contract suppliers and continuing our
aggressive education and outreach activities for beneficiaries and
other stakeholders.

“Again, this is all the information we have to report on
today, and we thank you.”

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