Comments Due on Competitive Bidding Program Survey

WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 12, 2019)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is requesting comments from the public on questions to include in their competitive bidding program survey to stakeholders. CMS is interested in surveying stakeholders such as beneficiaries, contract suppliers and discharge planners to monitor the program in real-time. These comments are due Friday, Dec. 20.

The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) encourages suppliers to provide feedback on this rare opportunity. Below are some key points AAHomecare will be highlighting in their letter. The association welcomes membership to include these recommendations in your comments:

• CMS should issue the same surveys in advance of the implementation of the Round 2021 competitive bidding program to develop a baseline against which CMS can compare survey results from during the competitive bidding program.
• CMS should survey the stakeholders twice a year to better monitor trends and changes from competitive bid program impacts.
• Once surveys reveal particular negative impacts, CMS needs to conduct a root cause analysis and develop a corrective action plan that is shared with the industry in the spirit of transparency. 
• CMS should publicize survey results, and the results should be available within a reasonable timeframe..

You can submit your comments to [email protected] using the subject line “Competitive Bidding Surveys” in order for your feedback to be considered. Comments are due December 20th. See more details in CMS’s announcement.

Visit aahomecare.org for more information.