WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 31, 2017)—CMS today announced plans to consolidate all rounds and areas included in the competitive bidding program for DME into a single round of competition to be known as Round 2019. The Round 1 2017, Round 2 Recompete, and National Mail-Order Recompete contract periods for all product categories will all continue through December 31, 2018. Round 2019 contracts will take effect on January 1, 2019, and run through Dec. 31, 2021. Round 2019 will take place in 141 CBAs, with 10 new CBAs that are specific to CPAP devices and related accessory product categories. New aspects of Round 2019 will include:
- CPAP Bundling—In 5 of the 10 new CBAs noted above, payment will be made on a bundled, non-capped monthly rental basis, with one monthly rental payment for the CPAP device, related accessories and services for each month of use. No separate payments will be made to suppliers in these CBAs for replacement of equipment, accessories, supplies, repair or maintenance and servicing, including miscellaneous items. Suppliers bidding in these five CBAs will submit bids for a single HCPCS code, K0400. In the remaining 5 new CBAs, payment will be made using the same payment rules for CPAP devices and related accessories in all other existing CBAs.
- Lead Item Bidding—Suppliers will bid for a lead item within a grouping of certain similar durable medical equipment with or without certain features. This means that rather than submitting individual bids for each item within a grouping of equipment, suppliers bidding will submit one bid for the lead item that takes into account the costs of furnishing all of the equipment in the grouping.
- Bid Surety Bonds—Bidders must obtain a $50,000 bid surety bond from an authorized surety on the Dept. of the Treasury’s listing of Certified Companies for each CBA in which a bid is submitted.
Timing Not Yet Finalized
CMS will announce a bidding timeline and open bidder registration sometime in Spring 2017. Bidding will begin in Summer 2017. AAHomecare will provide additional details as they become available.
Visit aahomecare.org for more information.
—Via AAHomecare
