CMS Sets Calls for Bid Losers, Referral Agents

BALTIMORE — In a post on its website Thursday, CMS
notified
industry stakeholders of a national education call on competitive bidding Nov. 8.
According to the notice, “The target audience for this call is
DMEPOS suppliers that will not be contract suppliers in the
program.”

In a Friday post, the agency added a second call for referral
agents Nov. 16. That call, the notice explained, is for
“Medicare-enrolled providers, physicians, treating practitioners,
discharge planners, social workers, and pharmacists who refer
beneficiaries for DMEPOS items and services in a competitive
bidding area.”

Registration information for the Nov. 8 call, which will be held
from 2 -3:30 p.m. ET, is available on CMS’ competitive bidding page.

Registration instructions for the Nov. 16 call, also scheduled
from 2 – 3:30 p.m. ET, will be available soon, the agency said.

The Medicare Learning Network has also released several new fact
sheets on the bidding program, including “The DMEPOS Competitive
Bidding Program Traveling Beneficiary Fact Sheet” and two fact
sheets related to exceptions for walkers: the “DMEPOS Competitive
Bidding Program Hospitals That Are Not Contract Suppliers Fact
Sheet” and the “DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program Physicians and
Other Treating Practitioners Who Are Enrolled Medicare DMEPOS
Suppliers Fact Sheet.”

According to CMS:

Under the DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program, beneficiaries
with Original Medicare who obtain competitive bidding items in
designated competitive bidding areas (CBAs) are required to obtain
these items from a contract supplier, unless an exception applies.
For the first phase of competitive bidding, which is effective
January 1, 2011, one of these exceptions allows hospitals to
furnish competitively bid walkers in a CBA to their own patients,
without submitting a bid and being selected as a contract supplier.
Similarly, another of these exceptions allows physicians and other
treating practitioners who are enrolled Medicare DMEPOS suppliers
to furnish competitively bid walkers in a CBA to their own patients
without submitting a bid and being selected as a contract
supplier.

To download all of the fact sheets, see the DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Educational Resources
page on the CMS website, then click the appropriate link in the
“Downloads” section.

View more competitive bidding
stories.