Few New Competitive Bidding Details At PAOC Meeting

Baltimore

CMS held a Program Advisory and Oversight Committee meeting last month to give an overview of its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on DME competitive bidding. According to AAHomecare, the following are among key issues that were covered:

• Quality Standards and Accreditation: More than 5,600 stakeholders commented on the draft supplier quality standards, which were released last November, with the most common complaint that they were “too prescriptive,” CMS said. Agency officials agreed and said they are working to adjust the standards.
• Rebates: Under the rebate program, providers who submit a bid below the single payment amount that is set would be allowed to offer a rebate to beneficiaries equal to the difference between their actual bid and the payment amount. CMS said the rebates would allow providers to be more competitive. But PAOC member Dave Kazynski, president of VGM’s Homelink, noted that beneficiaries are mainly concerned about quality, not a small rebate. Home care providers “are not looking at market share, they’re looking at survival,” he said.
• Sustainability: Several PAOC members also said they are worried that unrealistically low bids would distort the process. “There is no provision in the methodology to determine whether the winning amount is sustainable,” said attorney Asela Cuervo, who represents AAHomecare on the PAOC.