CBIC clarifies its clarification on credit reporting deadline

The Accredited Medical Equipment Providers of America (AMEPA) has done some more digging into the issue of when credit reports should be dated for Round 2 of competitive bidding, and prompted a CBIC clarification.

Two weeks ago, a CBIC spokesperson told consultant Chris Rice that the deadline was Jan. 30. Last week, a CBIC ombudsman told AMEPA that there was no such deadline.

At issue was the wording in CBIC instructions stating credit reports must be dated “within 90 days prior” to the opening of the bid window. Rice had called a CBIC official who said the instruction really meant that the instructions really meant “prior to” and not “within 90 days.”

Not so, according to a later clarification given AMEPA: “Credit reports dated greater than 90 days prior to the opening of the bid window are not valid. Therefore, the credit report must be dated on or after that date. Additionally, the credit report may be dated after the opening of the bid window.”

Nov. 1, 2011, was 90 days prior to the Jan. 30 bid window opening. And on Wednesday, a clarification was posted on the competitive bidding website.