NAIMES reports that Round 1 eliminated at least 324 providers

The National Association of Independent Medical Equipment Suppliers (NAIMES) reported last week that a list of providers that have closed because of Round 1 of competitive bidding now stands at 324.

The list is being compiled at the request of members of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, which recently conducted a hearing on competitive bidding. During the hearing, NAIMES raised the issue of HME providers going out of business.

NAIMES noted that the VGM Group has collected a list of 300 companies that went out of business, and NAIMES had collected 24 more company names.

“In fact, we feel this number is likely too low since there are others who were off the radar of the industry organizations but have also closed and otherwise left Medicare, including many who have sold the businesses,’’ Wayne Stanfield, president and CEO of NAIMES, stated in an editorial. “These business closures are a clear indication that CMS has far overstepped the authority given them by Congress, and it is now time for Congress to rein in an agency that operates with arrogance and impunity.”