7/10/07 CMS Offers Last-Minute Help for Bidders, Says Deadlines Are Firm

BALTIMORE–With days to go before first-round bids are due on July 20, CMS offered some last-minute help for dealing with its Competitive Bidding Submission System.

In a special conference call yesterday, Joel Kaiser, deputy director of DMEPOS policy, said CMS has extended the CBSS time-out period so providers can stay in the system for 12 hours before being automatically logged off.

Kaiser said the agency had received a dozen calls from providers who complained they were frozen out and had lost data while trying to enter information into the online system. A built-in security setting had logged users out after two hours.

Because there is “a significant amount of data” to enter when working on a bid, Kaiser said, providers should keep track of their time while in the system. Once they get close to the 12-hour mark, they should save their data and log off entirely. If additional time is needed, then they can log in again to begin another session.

Providers should also make sure to keep each session active by sending information to the server at least every 30 minutes, Kaiser said. Bidders can press the “update” or “submit” button on their current page, or they can visit their home page by clicking on the “home” link on the top left corner of the application.

Kaiser also warned bidders to ignore a screen prompt that tells them to change their passwords or make additional changes to their user profile. This can lock users out of the system if the changes no longer match the information in their accounts, he explained. If this happens, providers should contact the bidding help line “to walk though a fix,” Kaiser said.

While providers did cover a range of technical issues in a question-and-answer session during the call, queries also turned to more general topics, including bid deadlines.

When one caller said that problems on CMS’ end had stymied his attempt at bid registration, which closed July 7, Kaiser responded: “Whatever the trouble was, it had to have been resolved by the 7th. The 7th was the deadline for actual registration.”

When another caller asked whether there would be any additional time given for bid submission, Kaiser said simply, “No.”

Bids are due by 9 p.m. ET on July 20.

Kaiser said instructions about the bidding system issues would be posted on the Competitive Bidding Implementation Contractor Web site: www.dmecompetitivebid.com.

For additional questions, providers are instructed to call the CBIC help line at (877) 557-5331 or e-mail [email protected].