Eligible HMEs Outraged Over Bid Disqualification

ATLANTA–For City Medical Services General Manager Rob Brant,
the postal delivery from CMS might as well have contained an atom
bomb.

It didn’t–but the message was explosive, just the same:
“Unfortunately, we are unable to accept your bid as indicated
in the enclosed chart.”

The letter went on to explain that the North Miami Beach company
would not be eligible to provide oxygen and CPAP to Medicare
beneficiaries because “Bidder did not submit along with its
bid the applicable financial documentation specified in the request
for bids.”

But this information was news to Brant, who immediately called
the CBIC.

“The customer service representative alerted me that I was
missing one year of a financial document that was required,”
Brant explained. “I immediately checked my copy, and it was
in there. I also contracted with a very reputable health care law
firm to certify my bid was properly completed. We checked every
item over 10 times before we sent it to the CBIC. The CBIC
representative informed me that since the financial aspect did not
qualify, our bid was never reviewed.”

Brant’s case is not unique. Following CMS’ Thursday afternoon
announcement detailing pricing for round one of competitive bidding
and the dissemination of contracts, a number of providers have come
forward claiming they were denied contracts due to CMS’ processing
errors.

Jeffrey S. Baird, who heads Amarillo, Texas-based Brown &
Fortunato’s Health Care Group, said he had received similar
complaints from providers in the Kansas City and Dallas CBAs.

“They have all said the same thing: They submitted their
complete application, including financials, on a timely basis; they
received no notification from the CBIC that it did not receive the
financials; and they received a letter [Friday] stating that their
application was rejected because no financials were
received,” Baird said.

“In short, the applications were rejected through no fault
of these suppliers. I am confident that this has happened to a
number of suppliers in the 10 CBAs.” Baird said the law firm
is considering whether to file for injunctive relief on the
providers’ behalf as some have requested.

Raul Lopez of Bayshore Dura Medical in Miami Lakes, Fla., and
president of the Florida Association of Medical Equipment
Suppliers, has fielded similar complaints. He said FAMES has
contacted the American Association for Homecare to ask that CMS
take another look at the bids to confirm that the financial data
was, in fact, sent.

Lopez also questioned CMS’ reasoning behind reaching out in
January to providers whose bids required further documentation, but
not offering the same concession to providers who, CMS claims, were
missing financial documentation.

“Why didn’t they contact suppliers and say, ‘You have two hours
to fax us this financial information?’” he asked.

John Shirvinsky, executive director of the Pennsylvania
Association of Medical Suppliers, said one company in that state
was disqualified over a typo.

“I have one report of a member who was disqualified for
pricing an item too low. They had submitted $.49 instead of
$49.00–an obvious typo–for a trans-tracheal oxygen catheter.
After catching the error, they wrote a letter, enclosing copies of
backup paperwork, and asked CMS for permission to revise the typo
and submit the bid as intended. The request was denied, and the
company disqualified.”

Shirivinsky said he is not surprised by the reports of errors.
“Given the number of problems that this process entailed in
going forward with all of the computer glitches and such, can you
really be surprised something like this happened?” he
asked.

“It’s unfortunate, and we still believe this process needs
to be stopped, right now. CMS is trying to put a very rosy shine on
this thing, but I just don’t see the same gloss.”

Brant said he has fielded several calls from fellow HMEs in the
Miami CBA who also received disqualification notices.

“I have been notified by friends that in the Miami MSA
alone over a dozen individual bids and networks impacting at least
40 companies’ ability to have their bid considered have been
disqualified as well,” Brant said. “I was told that
there are two cases where companies were told that they were not
accredited and they are.”

Brant said the CBIC assured him they would “look into [the
problem],” but in the meantime, he fears what will happen to
City Medical Services if its bid is not reconsidered.

“I’m shocked, because this was the last thing that I
expected. We looked at the numbers on the Web site [Thursday]
night, and we would definitely have won a CPAP bid,” Brant
said. “I have no idea what is going to happen if I don’t win
this bid.”

Brant has contacted industry groups VGM, AAHomecare, FAMES, PAMS
and other industry leaders to prepare an official response, and
said he is ready to file suit if the problem is not rectified.

“Hopefully the CBIC will be able to resolve it, but if
not, I’m not sure if we’re going to have some form of
litigation,” he said.