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In its written testimony to the House Health Subcommitte for the hearing on CMS’ DME competitive bidding program, AARP demonstrated its disregard of the views of America’s Medicare beneficiaries. AARP embraced competitive bidding even though seniors and their families are angry, frightened and deeply opposed to the program which will terminate many Medicare beneficiaries’ access to the home medical equipment supplier of their choice.
In their testimony, AARP stated:
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The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness informed the House Subcommittee on Health’s hearing on “Medicare’s Competitive Bidding Program for Durable Medical Equipment: Implications for Quality, Cost and Access” about issues including:
- The belief by many American seniors that the competitive bidding program reflected a lack of concern about their well-being by our nation’s leadership;
- CMS’ repeated refusal to adhere to statutory transparency requirements; and
- Critical failings in CMS management of other competitive bidding efforts that halted those programs.
Tozzi Testimony
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In preparation for the House Subcommittee on Health hearing on “Medicare’s Competitive Bidding Program for Durable Medical Equipment: Implications for Quality, Cost and Access,” committee staff prepared a background memorandum. The memo provided background information on DME and Medicare, discussed old concerns on integrity in the DMEPOS program, reviewed the history of the DME competitive bidding demonstration program and the Round 1 Bidding and provided some information about the Round 1 Re-bid results.
The staff memo did not discuss the Round 1 Rebid transparency failings that resulted in a lawsuit against the program. Also ignored in the memo was the deep concern and fear among Medicare beneficiaries and equipment and service providers that competitive bidding will decimate the ranks of trusted home medical equipment suppliers.
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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.
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CMS Adminitrator Berwick has responded to a letter from over 130 members of Congress asking the agency to release the names of the DME provides who won contracts in the Round 1 Rebid. As the lawmakers explained, ““Without knowing the identity as well as the appropriate overall qualifications of these providers, we cannot evaluate the program’s impact in terms of quality and access to care for seniors we represent.”
In his response, Dr. Berwick declined to release the names of the winning suppliers stating that, “we believe that providing a series of interim lists of suppliers would result in beneficiary confusion, undermining the orderly and effective implementation of the program.”
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From: HME Business
Dobson DaVanzo & Associates study says NCB could negatively impact Medicare beneficiaries and is highly susceptible to gaming.
Aug 26, 2010
Competitive bidding could result in diminished choice, reduced access to care, and lower quality products and services for Medicare beneficiaries who depend on HME providers, according to a new independent study of the national competitive bidding program.
As part of its research, actuarial company Dobson DaVanzo & Associates, which was commissioned by the American Association for Homecare to conduct the study, conducted an extensive literature review (government reports, congressional testimony, journal articles), as well as interviews with representatives from patient advocacy groups, beneficiaries, discharge planners, academic experts and the HME community.
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CMS will publish the final rule: Medicare Program; Establishing Additional Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) Supplier Enrollment Safeguards
According to CMS, the final rule, which is based on a proposed rule published on January 25, 2008, “will clarify, expand, and add to the existing enrollment requirements that Durable Medical Equipment and Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) suppliers must meet to establish and maintain billing privileges in the Medicare program.”
Competitive bidding issues addressed in the rule include:
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Letter to CMS Cites Need for Open and Transparent Oversight of the Bid Program
A bipartisan group of 136 members of Congress recently requested that the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) disclose the list of homecare providers whose bids were used to calculate home medical equipment reimbursement rates under the Medicare “competitive” bidding program. See letter at www.aahomecare.org.
“Without knowing the identity, as well as the appropriate overall qualifications of these providers, we cannot evaluate the program’s impact in terms of quality and access to care for seniors we represent,” states the congressional letter to CMS Administrator Donald Berwick, M.D.
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From HME News
WASHINGTON – If competitive bidding kicks off on Jan. 1, 2011, as planned, industry stakeholders hope to have a reporting mechanism in place that will allow patients and referral sources to detail the expected wreck created in the program’s wake.
“People aren’t going to know about or understand the resulting reduction in services and other problems unless they’re exposed,” said David Petsch, managing director of CSIHME, one of the groups working to develop a reporting mechanism. “And if you don’t know what the negative effects of the program are, how do you make good decisions about how to address them?”
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Following an agreement by federal attorneys to destroy the lab bidder’s documents, a federal judge dismisses the case
Last month in a San Diego courtroom, federal attorneys agreed to destroy the
clinical pathology laboratory bid documents that had been submitted as part of the poorly-conceived Medicare Part B Laboratory Competitive Bidding Demonstration Project that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) attempted to implement in 2008.
An agreement to destroy the bid documents was negotiated agreement between attorneys for the plaintiff clinical laboratories and federal attorneys for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
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