Watch Those Blackberries: Bidding Could Open Today

BALTIMORE–At an Open Door Forum on Wednesday, CMS officials
said the agency will try to hold to its timeline and open the
competitive bidding window today, or at least sometime this
week.

“We still believe we can meet the timetable at the end of the
month. It could happen Monday, but it’s not guaranteed,” said CMS’
Joel Kaiser. He added that if not today, the agency expects to open
its 60-day bid window this week.

In a timetable posted on the Competitive Bidding Implementation
Contractor Web site, the agency lists “late April 2007” as the
start date for the first round of Medicare DMEPOS bidding, and
“late June” as the close of the bid window. Aug. 31 is given as the
last day for first-round bidders to be accredited.

After that, CMS will conclude bid evaluation and begin the
contract selection process in late September. The agency plans to
announce winning suppliers in December before taking the program
live in 10 MSAs in April 2008.

“Again, it is a 60-day bid window,” Kaiser said. “You have two
months to submit your bid.”

Kaiser said educational materials and information providers
would need to submit their bids–including a Web cast that explains
the basics of the bidding program–has been posted on the CBIC Web
site. By the end of last week, the site also included a “getting
started” checklist, a list of required financial information, basic
bidding rules, instructions for filling out bid forms and an
explanation of the bid evaluation process, along with a few
FAQs.

More information will be posted “over the next several weeks,”
Kaiser said, including a chart “that will be a quick snapshot …
that will contain a lot of information for bidders as they are
making a decision about what categories to bid for and what their
bid amounts will be.”

He said the chart, in the form of a spreadsheet, would include
product categories for each area (with HCPCS codes and
descriptors); what type of bid suppliers should submit (rental or
purchase); how Medicare is going to pay for the items (rental,
purchase or both); a base unit that suppliers will need to use when
reporting their capacity for each product code; and utilization
data for calendar years 2005 and 2006 (although the data for 2006
isn’t yet available and will be posted later).

In addition, the spreadsheet will include the weights that will
be given to each HCPCS code in a product category. Kaiser said
these will be based on volume of use for each item relative to
other items in the category (in other words, the higher the volume
of use for an item, the higher the weight it will receive).

Fee schedule amounts “that will be used to assure savings under
the program” also will be included in the spreadsheet, Kaiser said.
“Each bid for each HCPCS code in each product category must be
below this fee schedule amount,” he explained. “That is a
requirement of the program.”

In an update to the codes included in the bidding program,
Kaiser announced that in the support surfaces product category,
HCPCS code E0194 (air fluidized bed)–the only Group 3 code written
into the category–has been removed, “so essentially this product
category now becomes a Group 2 support surface category.” In
addition, code A4255 (platforms for home blood glucose monitor, 50
per box), an outdated code that is no longer used, has been removed
from the mail-order diabetic supplies product category.

Kaiser said he expected the spreadsheet to be available this
week on the CBIC site, and noted that CMS plans to hold “bidders’
conferences” after the bidding starts to walk suppliers through the
process.

To link to the CBIC Web site, click here.

To access a CMS Web cast about the competitive bidding program,
click here.

For a list of product categories included in the bidding
program, click here.

For a list of the 10 MSAs selected as the first bidding areas,
click here.

For a PDF of CMS’ final rule on competitive bidding (401 pages),
click here.

For a highlights summary of the final rule, click here.

For a list of CMS’ 10 approved accrediting organizations,
click here.