CMS' Kuhn: We're Thinking About Round Two Already

WASHINGTON

Speaking at the American Association for Homecare's Legislative Conference last month, acting Deputy Administrator Herb Kuhn told the group that CMS is moving toward full implementation of competitive bidding and will enforce its final rule on the program — mandated by the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 — as it stands.

“We're thinking about round two already,” Kuhn said, adding that “what we learn in doing this first round will be absolutely essential for us as we make refinements for round two.”

Because CMS is working on a “fundamental transformation” from being a passive payer of claims to an active purchaser of health care, Kuhn said, the agency is looking for value in the dollars it spends. That means focusing on prevention, pay for reporting, pay for performance, transparency, cost-effectiveness — “and yes, it also means competitive bidding.”

While one provider said he thought Kuhn had done an “eloquent job of sugarcoating” competitive bidding, the message was not exactly what attendees at the association's annual lobbying conference said they wanted to hear.

An estimated 225 providers and industry advocates traveled to the nation's capital to push Congress for support of H.R.1845 and S.1428, companion bills that would ease some effects of the national bidding program.

The proposed legislation would allow qualified providers that had submitted bids to continue serving Medicare patients at the single-payment rates that are set.

In a question-and-answer period after Kuhn's June 6 speech, a provider asked whether Kuhn favored the legislative efforts, telling the CMS official he thought competitive bidding would “bring this industry to its knees and as a result put in jeopardy the patients we serve.”

Kuhn responded that the agency has not taken an official position on the legislation. “What we're committed to right now is implementing the MMA and the competitive bidding program as part of the law,” he said.

To another question on CMS' view of shortening the current oxygen rental cap from 36 to 13 months, Kuhn answered, “Nothing's changed on that … that's still the administration's position on oxygen right now. We're part of the administration.”