VGM rolls out bid-related tools
By HME News Staff
Updated Wed August 15, 2018
WATERLOO, Iowa - The VGM Group has released a tool that allows providers to assess what areas CMS has deemed bid, non-rural, rural and non-contiguous. The tool provides interactive maps for all 50 states, allowing providers to determine what area a zip code falls under. “With the proposed changes coming down from CMS excluding relief from the non-bid areas and opening up competitive bidding areas to any willing provider, it is important that providers understand what they will be reimbursed and where those lines fall on a map,” said John Gallagher, vice president of government relations. “This new tool will allow providers to easily access that information”…VGM has also released sample templates for commenting on CMS's recent proposed rule outlining changes to the bid program. Because the rule covers several aspects of the program, VGM has organized the templates by policy area: lead-item pricing, oxygen and budget neutrality, fee schedule adjustment amounts, multi-function vents, and national mail-order programs for test strips. VGM advises providers to add at minimum a paragraph of personal testimony to the template for “the most effective comment.”
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