On July 15, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced plans to recompete the supplier contracts awarded in Round 2 of the Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program (CBP). CMS is required by law to recompete contracts under the DMEPOS CBP at least once every three years. The Round 2 contract period for all product categories expires on June 30, 2016. Bidding begins this winter.
Orthotics and prosthetics are essentially exempted from the current competitive bidding program, and competitive bidding is not being applied to off-the-shelf orthotics.
The Round 2 Recompete product categories are:
- Enteral nutrients, equipment, and supplies.
- General home equipment and related supplies and accessories (includes hospital beds and related accessories, group 1 and 2 support surfaces, commode chairs, patient lifts, and seat lifts).
- Nebulizers and related supplies.
- Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) pumps and related supplies and accessories.
- Respiratory equipment and related supplies and accessories (includes oxygen, oxygen equipment, and supplies; continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices and respiratory assist devices (RADs) and related supplies and accessories).
- Standard mobility equipment and related accessories (includes walkers, standard power and manual wheelchairs, scooters, and related accessories).
- Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) devices and supplies.
CMS said it is conducting the Round 2 Recompete in the same geographic areas that were included in Round 2. However, as a result of the Office of Management and Budget’s updates to the original 91 Round 2 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), there are now 90 MSAs for the Round 2 recompete. The Round 2 Recompete competitive bidding areas (CBAs) have nearly the same ZIP codes as the Round 2 CBAs. However, certain ZIP codes have changed since Round 2 and CMS has updated the CBAs to reflect the changes. Also, CBAs that were located in multi-state MSAs have been defined so that no CBA is included in more than one state. A list of the ZIP codes included in each CBA is also available on the CBIC website.
CMS will also be conducting the national mail-order recompete for diabetic testing supplies at the same time as the Round 2 Recompete. The national mail-order recompete will include all parts of the United States, including the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa.
CMS has recommended that suppliers who are interested in bidding should prepare now by, among other things, updating contact information, obtaining licensure where required, and obtaining accreditation.
The Competitive Bidding Implementation Contractor (CBIC) administers the DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program. For more information, visit the CBIC website.
