MIAMI--Following a May 10 meeting in Miami where 70 small providers pledged to help, Rob Brant of City Medical Services in North Miami Beach, Fla., has scheduled a meeting in Orlando to spread the word about his grassroots effort to stop--or at least delay--CMS' national competitive bidding roll-out.

To do so, Brant and his partner Ron Bibace are appealing not only to CMS but to the Small Business Administration, arguing "that CMS improperly interpreted the congressional mandate and did not provide the appropriate 'protection of small suppliers.'"

While the final rule on competitive bidding includes a 30 percent target for small providers to secure bid contracts, Brant said based on the amount of the nation's DME business that is transacted by small businesses--which some estimates place as high as 90 percent--that just isn't enough.

In the Miami competitive bidding area, for example, Brant said there are 450 listed oxygen providers likely to bid on that category. "This will almost certainly have a very severe adverse financial impact on 98 to 99 percent" of those companies, the vast majority small providers, that don't win bids, he said.

The negative financial effect on the Miami CBA, which includes 6,000 square miles in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, will be far-reaching, he said.

"It's a chain reaction that won't affect only small DME providers," Brant said. "If those companies downsize or close, it will hurt their landlords, their billing companies, their software companies and the mom-and-pop 02 repair companies and the small manufacturers they deal with ... and all of these people could be going to collect unemployment."

CMS Acting Administrator Leslie Norwalk has said the agency estimates that when competitive bidding is fully implemented, the program would save $1 billion annually.

"On one hand the government said it will save money with competitive bidding, but if people start closing down their companies, they could lose $1 billion in commerce from small business," Brant said.

He has filed a formal complaint with the SBA Ombudsman.

Although Washington observers say it is unlikely, "we're hoping this could delay the implementation of competitive bidding," Brant said, adding that he has been encouraged by the "overwhelming support" for his effort so far. "It's worth it to save my business," he said.

The Orlando meeting will be held Wednesday, May 23, at 7:00 pm ET at the Holiday Inn Altamonte Springs. For additional information, contact Brant at rob@citymedical.com.