CMS canceled a meeting scheduled for Monday with an expert on auctions about his ideas to modify the design of the agency’s controversial competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment, Washington insiders tell Inside Health Policy. The meeting was canceled as another group representing DME suppliers notified CMS Monday of a forthcoming report that is expected to detail flaws in the design of the competitive bid program. The concerns about the bidding design come as the program kick off date — Jan. 1, 2011 — inches closer.
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CMS Cancels Meeting With Critic Of DME Competitive Bid Program
Posted: October 19, 2010 -
Tapping Academic Expertise: The Academic Community Has Made A Significant Contribution to Improving the CMS Competitive Bidding Program—More is Needed
CMS is about to implement an unprecedented program dealing with the provision of medical products and services to senior citizens on Medicare. The program is the CMS Competitive Bidding program for durable medical equipment, oxygen tanks, beds, and related medical supplies.
Members of the academic community who specialize in these “bidding” programs have advised the federal government that the program if implemented as presently designed will result in an increase in prices and decrease in services.
CRE has established an Interactive Public Docket which allows all members of the academic community to participate in this important public policy issue by posting their comments on this Discussion Forum http://www.thecre.com/Forum/
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CRE Letter Cites CMS’ Unprecedented Federal Violation of Auction Principles
CRE sent a letter to CMS explaining that the rules governing the DME’s competitive bidding program contained flaws not found in other government auctions. The letter also requested that CMS suspend Round 1 until they revise their bid procedures to conform to accepted auction theory. Please click here to read the complete letter.
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CMS, White House Advisers To Meet With Critic Of CMS’ DME Comp. Bid. Effort
CMS officials, White House economic advisers and congressional budget experts plan to meet with a leading critic of the design of the Medicare competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment in a move that Wall Street analysts predict could lead to changes in the second round bidding, according to a Wall Street note on DME supplier Lincare. CMS had planned to release the round one winning bidders early last week but didn’t do so, and the note implies that suppliers may be reluctant to sign contracts because of the program’s design. CMS plans to enlarge the bidding program in the second round in line with a health reform mandate.
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New West Medical Explains Congressman’s Mistake In Supporting Competitive Bidding
The founders of New West Medical Inc., a DME supplier in Redding, CA, explained why Rep. Wally Herger is wrong to continue supporting CMS’ deeply flawed competitive bidding program and his refusal to support HR 3790.
From: The (Redding) Record Searchlight
Herger supports bidding for Medicare supplies
By David Benda
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Nobody’s afraid of competition.
But home medical equipment providers fear that a competitive bidding policy for Medicare being tested in certain U.S. markets will kill the competition — leaving patients with few choices, driving people out of business and costing the industry thousands of jobs.
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“Fix Medicare’s Bizarre Auction Program” — CMS’ DME Competitive Bidding Program Discussed on Freakonomics Blog
Fix Medicare’s Bizarre Auction Program
By Ian Ayres and Peter CramtonHarry Truman once quipped, “Give me a one-handed economist! All my economists say, ‘On the one hand, on the other’” Often even a lone economist has difficulty making a recommendation. While true on certain matters, there are many issues where economists do agree about the right and wrong course of action. A case in point is competitive bidding for Medicare supplies.
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Stark Urges CMS To Consider Suggested Changes To DME Bidding Program
Posted September 29Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), chair of the House Ways and Means health subcommittee, is urging CMS to consider recommendations by auction experts to revamp the competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment. CMS is supposed to announce the winning bidders of that program by early next week, and it’s not clear whether Stark’s request will delay the announcement.
Stark received a letter signed by 167 academics — including economists, computer scientists and operation researchers with expertise on auctions — who harshly criticized the design of the competitive bidding program. He forwarded the letter to CMS with a brief letter of his own. (Stark letter attached below.)
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CMS Competitive Bidding Threatens Higher Costs for Non-Medicare Patients/Reduced Beneficiary Access
A letter by over 160 prominent academicians shatters CMS’ claims to have conducted a credible, transparent competitive bidding program for DMEPOS. Moreover, the letter signed by researchers from MIT, Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, Yale, CalTech, Columbia, the University of Chicago and other major institutions demonstrates that the CMS bidding program may: 1) increase health care costs for people insured by private health plans; and 2) result in insufficient Medicare beneficiary access to needed DME.
Raising Costs to Non-Medicare Patients/Threat to Supply
CMS’ DMPEOS “competitive bidding” progran may increase health care costs to patients outside the Medicare program as private health care plans cross-subsidize the Medicare program while resulting in an insufficient supply of DME equipment for Medicare beneficiaries.
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Prominent Economists Destroy Theory Behind CMS DME Competitve Program
Comments of Concerned Auction Experts on the Medicare Competitive Bidding Program
Submitted to Chairman Stark, Health Subcommittee, Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives
20 September 2010We are economists, computer scientists, and operation researchers with expertise in the theory and practice of auctions.We write to express our concerns with the Medicare Competitive Bidding Program for Durable Medical Equipment operated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We believe that competitive bidding can be an effective method of controlling Medicare costs without sacrificing quality. However, the current auction program has flaws that need to be fixed before it can achieve the objectives of low cost and high quality.
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CMS Saves Money by Not Obeying Law
A new report by HHS’ Office of Inspector General found that CMS has not been reporting many adverse actions taken against health care providers to a central database as requried by law. As the report explains, “Section 1128E of the Social Security Act and the implementing regulations require the reporting of a variety of adverse actions to the” Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank (HIPDB) which was established in 1997. Federal and State government agencies and health plans are required to report adverse actions taken against health care providers including DME suppliers, laboratories, and nursing homes.