Region C and D DMERC Contracts Extended

Washington

CMS is extending the contracts for two DMERCs because of a protest concerning its award of bids to the new DME Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) in Regions C and D.

The agency announced last month that the two current contracts — Palmetto GBA for Region C and Cigna Government Services for Region D — will be extended to Sept. 30. The transition from the Durable Medical Equipment Regional Carriers to the new MACs originally was scheduled for July 1.

As part of CMS’ administrative contracting reform, the new MACs will handle billing, customer service and other day-to-day operations. Separate Program Safeguard Contractors (PSCs), which assumed duties earlier this year, are handling benefit integrity, medical review and medical policy for each region.

The protest that is holding up the transition was filed by Cigna, which lost MAC contract bids on both Regions C and D in January. Instead, CMS awarded Palmetto GBA the Region C contract, and Noridian Administrative Services the Region D contract.

According to CMS, the Government Accountability Office is expected to rule on the protest this month.

The transition from DMERCs to the new MACs will still take place as scheduled for Regions A (National Heritage Insurance Company, replacing HealthNow) and B (AdminaStar Federal) on July 1. CMS said it plans to release fact sheets to help providers with the transition in these jurisdictions.

For more information on CMS contracting reform, visit www.cms.hhs.gov/Medicare ContractingReform.