WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 12, 2020)—This week, the President’s Fiscal Year 2021 Budget was published by the Trump Administration. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published an accompanying Budget in Brief that highlights all the proposals that impact health care.
competitive bidding
The legislation & regulation that made last year
WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 18, 2019)—Provisions permanently excluding manual complex rehab technology (CRT) wheelchairs from the competitive bidding program have been included in FY 2020 appropriations legislation. The legislation also exempts CRT manual accessories from bidding-derived pricing for an 18-month period, starting Jan. 1, 2020.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 5, 2019)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have posted the Notice of Preliminary Bid Evaluation (PBE) and sent emails for all bidders noting whether they have met bidding requirements in areas including PTAN status, surety bond, licensure and accreditation.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 4, 2019)—Two United States representatives have introduced legislation to protect patient access to non-invasive ventilators, the American Association of Homecare reports. HR 4945, the Safeguarding Medicare Access to Respiratory Therapy (SMART) Act, sponsored by Reps.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 25, 2019)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS) has responded to members of the House of Representatives who joined a Congressional sign-on letter asking the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and CMS to reconsider plans to include non-invasive ventilators in Round 2021 of the competitive bidding program.
CBIC notified Round 2021 bidders of three important dates
WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 18, 2019)—Yesterday, the Competitive Bidding Implementation Contractor (CBIC) notified Round 2021 bidders of three important dates regarding their bids. Below is the chart provided by the CBIC that includes the type of notice, date the notice will be available on Connexion, and the deadline for bidders to respond to the notice.
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Notice 
Ease the auditing process for respiratory providers WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 20, 2019)—The 2020 ESRD/DMEPOS Proposed Rule that was published on Aug. 6, includes changes to the gap filling framework, payment conditions, and change of ownership (CHOW) timeline. Below are high-level points AAHomecare will be making: GAP-FILLING: WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 20, 2019)—With the CB Round 2021 bid window closing Wednesday, The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) hopes to rally suppliers and other HME stakeholders to resume advocacy on HME policy priorities, including extending and expanding relief for non-bid rural suppliers (HR 2771), CRT-related legislation (HR 2293, S 1223, and HR 2408), and expected legislation on non-invasive ventilators in competitive bidding. WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 10, 2019)—The DME CBP Collaboration has sent the following update to users who have registered with the dmecbpeducation.com resource related to the site's bidding calculators: The DME CBP Collaboration thanks you for engaging in Competitive Bidding Program education. WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 19, 2019)—The Competitive Bidding Implementation Contractor released a new Financial Scoring Methodology fact sheet providing information about the financial scoring process used to evaluate a bidder’s financial health for Round 2021. WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 25, 2019)—More than 40% of the members of the United States House of Representatives have joined a letter asking federal regulators to keep noninvasive ventilators out of the next round of the competitive bidding program for HME. *Updated June 7, 2019 with link to presentation. NASHVILLE (June 5, 2019)—Some 130 providers from around the country gathered Wednesday in Nashville, Tennessee, for the Bid Smart 2019 Summit, sponsored by the VGM Group, AAHomecare, the Council for Quality Respiratory Care (CQRC), At Home Services and the Healthcare Nutrition Council. The interactive summit covered the details of Round 2021 and helped providers learn how to approach bidding fully informed. WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 29, 2019)—As the home medical equipment industry prepares for the next round of the competitive bidding program, patient advocacy groups are rallying around the latest category added to the program—non-invasive ventilation (NIV). WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 23, 2019)—U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana plans to lead a Senate sign-on letter asking CMS and HHS to reverse course on the decision to add non-invasive vents (NIVs) to Round 2021 of the competitive bidding program, AAHomecare reports. WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 21, 2019)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has added a fourth webcast to its education program by splitting the previously announced “Registering and Submitting a Bid” session into two parts. The following webcasts are part of the series designed to assist bidders and sureties on key components of the Round 2021 process: WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 17, 2019)—Wednesday, Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa) introduced the Protecting Home Oxygen & Medical Equipment (HOME) Access Act of 2019 (HR 2771), legislation that would build upon last year’s interim final rule and ESRD/DMEPOS Final Rule. The new bill would: WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 2, 2019)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be hosting three webcasts as part of their education program to assist bidders and sureties on CB 2021. During the webcasts, CMS will be accepting questions from participants but encourages question submissions before the webcast at [email protected] with “Webcast Question” in the subject line. Below is the schedule for the webcasts and providers can register for the first session here. WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 2, 2019)—New legislation to establish a separate benefit for complex rehab technology (CRT) wheelchairs under Medicare has been introduced in the House. H.R. 2408, sponsored by Reps. 
AAHomecare is tackling new challenges and looking forward in mid-2019 |