From: HME News

From: Home Care Magazine

The CRE Calls Out AARP

Sep 23, 2010 1:09 PM

From: Inside Health Policy

Durable medical equipment (DME) competitive bidding program will not lead to supply shortages and about 90 percent of the winning bidders will accept contracts, despite industry claims to the contrary, CMS told lawmakers during hearings on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

House lawmakers of both parties had mixed responses to the state of the DME competitive bidding program, though the audience was mostly industry, which wants the program repealed. In a rare outburst, the audience applauded when Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX) outlined his misgivings.

From: Inside Health Policy

Independent experts on competitive bidding say CMS’ durable medical equipment bidding program is uniquely designed to set prices below a level at which many winning bidders can afford to participate, which likely will lead to product shortages. Those experts plan to meet soon with the Congressional Budget Office to urge CBO to re-estimate the potential savings from the competitive bidding program.

The design of the program will likely come up at a House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee hearing on the competitive bidding program on Wednesday (Sept. 15). An internal briefing document circulated to committee staff includes a comprehensive history of the program.

By Meghan McCarthy CongressDaily September 15, 2010

Two years after Congress stepped in to stop a flawed Medicare competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment, the Government Accountability Office is expected to tell a House committee on Wednesday that HHS has improved the bidding process.

But medical equipment firms and hospitals are warning lawmakers that the program will have an adverse impact on businesses, jobs and patients.

At a House Energy and Commerce hearing on Wednesday, GAO’s Health Care Director Kathleen King plans to report that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has made positive changes to the durable medical equipment program since the agency’s 2009 report on the flawed bidding process.

From: HME Business

House Energy and Commerce Committee’s health subcommittee will hold a Sept. 15 hearing on competitive bidding.

By David Kopf – Sep 09, 2010

The health subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing to discuss CMS’s competitive bidding program for HME on Wednesday, Sept. 15.

Titled “Medicare’s Competitive Bidding Program for Durable Medical Equipment: Implications for Quality, Cost and Access,” the hearing will “examine the conception and implementation of the competitive bidding program, the implementation of the Round One Re-Bid, and its potential effects on patients, providers, and physicians,” according to a formal notice from the subcommittee.

From Homecare Mag

Sep 2, 2010 12:20 PM

From Inside Health Policy

CMS refused to give lawmakers the list of winning bidders for the first round of the Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics and Supplies (DMEPOS) program and took a swipe at the industry by reminding that the suppliers had originally asked that the names of the winners be kept secret, even though the industry now wants the list released. Providing the list would confuse beneficiaries, the agency states, and it would be inappropriate to announce the winners before notifying the losing bidders.