CMS has adopted a number of changes to its Medicare durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) policies for 2017, including new competitive bidding program (CBP) requirements and revisions to the methodology for updating Medicare DMEPOS fee schedule amounts based on CBP pricing.
With regard to the CBP, the final rule implements a Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) provision requiring entities bidding in the DMEPOS competitive bidding program to submit proof of an authorized “bid surety bond” for each competitive bidding area (CBA) in which the supplier is bidding. Under the final rule, the surety bond amount will be set at $50,000 – rather than $100,000 as proposed — for each CBA associated with the bid. If the bidder is offered but declines a contract for any product category in the CBA, and the supplier’s bid for the product category was at or below the median composite bid rate used to calculate single payment amounts, the bid bond will be forfeited, and CMS will collect on the bond. In all other cases, the bid bond will be returned to the bidder within 90 days of CMS’s public announcement of the contract suppliers for the CBA. The rule establishes penalties for bidders that provide falsified surety bonds or accept a contract offer and then renege on it in order to avoid surety bond forfeiture.
Continue Reading CMS Finalizes New Rules for Bidders in Medicare DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program, Revises DMEPOS Fee Schedule Update Policies