CMS announces winning bid amounts

BALTIMORE - CMS announced today that a competitive bidding program scheduled to kick off Jan. 1, 2011, in nine cities will slash reimbursement for certain durable medical equipment by, on average, 32%.

The agency touted significant average savings for frequently used DME like oxygen concentrators ($173.17 to $116.16 per month, on average), semi-electric hospital beds ($127.12 to $80.35) and diabetic supplies ($75.32 to $33.44).

CMS stated that small suppliers, those with gross revenues of $3.5 million or less, make up about 48% of the suppliers that will be offered contracts.

The agency will now begin mailing contract offers to winning bidders. If any contract offers are not accepted, it will offer contracts to other bidders as needed to meet beneficiary demand.

CMS expects to complete the contracting process in time to announce the winning bidders in September.

The agency stated that bidders not offered contracts will be notified of the reason why they did not qualify for the program, but not until the contracting process is complete.

CMS is holding a press conference to discuss the bid amounts with the media at 4:30 p.m. today. Check www.hmenews.com on Friday and the HME NewsWire on Monday for the story.

For CMS's press release:

http://www.cms.gov/apps/media/press_releases.asp

For CMS's fact sheet:

http://www.cms.gov/apps/media/fact_sheets.asp

For single payment amounts (SPAs):

http://www.dmecompetitivebid.com/palmetto/CBIC.nsf/docsCat/CBIC~Suppliers~Single%20Payment%20Amounts?open&cat=CBIC~Suppliers~Single%20Payment%20Amounts