Among the many efforts to delay the first round of the durable medical equipment competitive bidding program, a letter urging the delay has been circulated in the Senate by Sens. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.)
The American Association for Homecare has asked homecare providers to urge their senators to sign on to this letter. The deadline for signatures was the end of business on Monday, June 9.
The letter asks senators to "support legislation in the next few weeks to suspend implementation of the program until outstanding issues can be resolved."
Another key Congressional leader, Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), has called for consideration of a delay in the competitive bidding program. As chairman of the House Small Business Committee, she sent a letter to Ways and Means Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stark (D-Calif.) and ranking member David Camp (R-Mich.).
"The (May 21) hearing revealed that CMS has failed to address a number of shortcomings in the bidding process and the agency is failing to award bids based on its own rules," Velazquez wrote. "In the State of Florida, for instance, CMS appears to have awarded at least 8 DMEPOS oxygen contracts to suppliers who did not have the appropriate licensure to provide medical oxygen services (out of a total of 44 contract suppliers). This represents a patent violation of CMS regulations for awarding contracts under the program and puts at risk beneficiaries who will be served by these suppliers. Moreover, by virtue of awarding contracts to non-eligible suppliers, other qualified suppliers were not given the opportunity to participate."
The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) recently debunked rumors that they have added ZIP codes to the DME bidding areas.
"This is a significant issue, especially coming at a time so close to implementation," said Walter Gorski, vice president of government affairs for AAHomecare. "While we are pleased that CMS is clarifying this issue, we are still extremely concerned that suppliers may have incorrectly notified patients that they must now find a new supplier. This is just another example of the hasty rush to implement the program rather than ensure that it is done in a proper manner."
Are you part of this effort to delay the DME bidding program? Send your comments to Associate Editor Chelsey Ledue at chelsey.ledue@medtechpublishing.com.