A series of important deadlines for home medical equipment providers is coming up fast.
Monday, May 18, 2009

A series of important deadlines for home medical equipment providers is coming up fast. Stay tuned to HomeCare as well for information on the Round One rebid of competitive bidding, with associated deadlines still to come from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
 
June 1 – Revised Enrollment Application. According to CMS, effective June 1, DMEPOS suppliers submitting applications to Medicare must use the revised CMS-855S form or the application will be rejected. The revised form includes a 26th Supplier Standard: “All DMEPOS suppliers must obtain a surety bond in order to receive and retain a supplier billing number.” The revised form also includes a section for reporting surety bond information. For information and a copy of the new form, check: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/CMSFORMS/CMSFORMS/ItemDetail.asp?ItemID=CMS019480
 
Aug. 1 – Red Flags Rule. For the second time, the Federal Trade Commission has delayed enforcement of its new “Red Flags” rules requiring the implementation of identity theft prevention programs. The rules had been set for enforcement May 1, but in a last-minute decision, the commission has pushed its compliance deadline to Aug. 1. Under the rules, HME providers and other affected companies must develop prevention programs that identify patterns, practices and activities that are “red flags” for possible identity theft. For more about the rules, see “Are You Ready for the Red Flags Rule?”
 
Sept. 30 – Accreditation. By this date, DMEPOS providers enrolled in the Medicare program must have submitted an approved accreditation to the National Supplier Clearinghouse or billing privileges will be revoked. For complete information, see: www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicareProviderSupEnroll
 
Oct. 2 – Surety Bond. In a final rule published Jan. 2, CMS mandated that existing DMEPOS providers obtain a $50,000 surety bond by Oct. 2. New providers, those adding locations and those changing ownership were required to obtain the bond by May 4. View a list of approved surety bond carriers from the Department of Treasury Web site.