BALTIMORE--At an Open Door Forum on Wednesday, CMS officials said the agency will try to hold to its timeline and open the competitive bidding window today, or at least sometime this week.

"We still believe we can meet the timetable at the end of the month. It could happen Monday, but it's not guaranteed," said CMS' Joel Kaiser. He added that if not today, the agency expects to open its 60-day bid window this week.

In a timetable posted on the Competitive Bidding Implementation Contractor Web site, the agency lists "late April 2007" as the start date for the first round of Medicare DMEPOS bidding, and "late June" as the close of the bid window. Aug. 31 is given as the last day for first-round bidders to be accredited.

After that, CMS will conclude bid evaluation and begin the contract selection process in late September. The agency plans to announce winning suppliers in December before taking the program live in 10 MSAs in April 2008.

"Again, it is a 60-day bid window," Kaiser said. "You have two months to submit your bid."

Kaiser said educational materials and information providers would need to submit their bids--including a Web cast that explains the basics of the bidding program--has been posted on the CBIC Web site. By the end of last week, the site also included a "getting started" checklist, a list of required financial information, basic bidding rules, instructions for filling out bid forms and an explanation of the bid evaluation process, along with a few FAQs.

More information will be posted "over the next several weeks," Kaiser said, including a chart "that will be a quick snapshot ... that will contain a lot of information for bidders as they are making a decision about what categories to bid for and what their bid amounts will be."

He said the chart, in the form of a spreadsheet, would include product categories for each area (with HCPCS codes and descriptors); what type of bid suppliers should submit (rental or purchase); how Medicare is going to pay for the items (rental, purchase or both); a base unit that suppliers will need to use when reporting their capacity for each product code; and utilization data for calendar years 2005 and 2006 (although the data for 2006 isn't yet available and will be posted later).

In addition, the spreadsheet will include the weights that will be given to each HCPCS code in a product category. Kaiser said these will be based on volume of use for each item relative to other items in the category (in other words, the higher the volume of use for an item, the higher the weight it will receive).

Fee schedule amounts "that will be used to assure savings under the program" also will be included in the spreadsheet, Kaiser said. "Each bid for each HCPCS code in each product category must be below this fee schedule amount," he explained. "That is a requirement of the program."

In an update to the codes included in the bidding program, Kaiser announced that in the support surfaces product category, HCPCS code E0194 (air fluidized bed)--the only Group 3 code written into the category--has been removed, "so essentially this product category now becomes a Group 2 support surface category." In addition, code A4255 (platforms for home blood glucose monitor, 50 per box), an outdated code that is no longer used, has been removed from the mail-order diabetic supplies product category.

Kaiser said he expected the spreadsheet to be available this week on the CBIC site, and noted that CMS plans to hold "bidders' conferences" after the bidding starts to walk suppliers through the process.

To link to the CBIC Web site, click here.

To access a CMS Web cast about the competitive bidding program, click here.

For a list of product categories included in the bidding program, click here.

For a list of the 10 MSAs selected as the first bidding areas, click here.

For a PDF of CMS' final rule on competitive bidding (401 pages), click here.

For a highlights summary of the final rule, click here.

For a list of CMS' 10 approved accrediting organizations, click here.

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