California Governor’s Office Eyes Competitive Bidding

Sacramento, Calif.

Buried in the 7,000-page California Performance Review released earlier last month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office recommended that Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, implement DME competitive bidding.

The report, which covers all aspects of state government, advocated competitive bidding “for the same reasons we always hear,” said Bob Achermann, executive director of the California Association of Medical Product Suppliers (CAMPS). Those reasons include how the process could promote “real-world” market pricing and cost savings.

The recommendation, however, does not hold the force of law, and the state’s health department has yet to act on the report, which also included “a lot of good things,” Achermann said, including progressive changes to the Medi-Cal enrollment process.

Earlier this summer, CAMPS members met with the California Department of Health Services (DHS) to discuss how Medi-Cal could contract directly with the state’s high-end rehab providers. The contracts will not be competitively bid, Achermann said, but will only be available to providers who meet certain quality criteria.

“It’s more about abuse,” Achermann explained. “I didn’t sense [that the state wanted] to squeeze prices down.” Instead, he said, state officials want to ensure that the providers Medi-Cal deals with “have certain standards.”

Achermann also said that, once Medi-Cal rehab contracts are implemented, the state is planning to organize a similar program for respiratory therapy providers.