Tag: competitive bidding

FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. – Össur has updated its proprietary Empower program to help physician practices and DMEPOS providers comply with new competitive bidding requirements for knee and back braces that went into effect Jan. 1.  Empower now has built-in prompts for new reimbursement coding and document capture requirements, and automatic mapping to designated contract providers based on a patient’s address.  “CMS’s new competitive bidding practice mandates...

In the past few months:  A global pandemic has severely stressed the supply of oxygen concentrators, revealing cracks in an HME industry that has been slowly chipped away at by Medicare’s competitive bidding program for 10 years.  CMS has decided not to move forward with the majority of Round 2021 of that program, because the agency didn’t “achieve expected savings,” and therefore – wait for it – the current reduced rates continue to apply.  The...

WASHINGTON – Industry stakeholders are still digging through the Round 2021 data that CMS furnished late on Jan. 15 and trying to figure out what’s behind the sometimes drastic variance in payment amounts.  For example, the amount for an oxygen concentrator was $72.36 in Akron, Ohio, but $189 in Chicago. The amount for CPAP devices was $38 in Oxnard, Calif., but $110.80 in Las Vegas. (Click here for more examples.) “It’s difficult to say...

WASHINGTON – CMS tonight released a “pivotal bid report” for Round 2021, in response to requests to share additional information on its latest round of the competitive bidding program. In the Las Vegas competitive bid area for example, the pivotal bid for CPAP devices, E601, was $110.80, a difference of 157.4% compared to the former CBA adjusted fee schedule amount. “CMS anticipates that this information will be helpful for stakeholders and other interested parties in...

YARMOUTH, Maine – The majority of competitive bidding contracts for off-the-shelf back braces in Round 2021 went to less than two-dozen companies, including a few that haven't traditionally provided them direct to consumer.  Companies with contracts include Hangar, a national provider of O&P; Medline, a distributor; and Breg, a manufacturer, which all won contracts nationally. Other contracts went to regional providers,...

WASHINGTON - CMS on Nov. 21 announced the contract suppliers for off-the-shelf knee and back braces in the next step in Round 2021 of its competitive bidding program.The agency announced on Oct. 27 that it had set the single payment amounts for the two product categories and had begun the contracting process.The payment amounts for OTS knee and back braces are, on average, 30% to 35% below Medicare's current fee schedule, based on a preliminary analysis by the American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association.The...

WASHINGTON - HME providers that submitted bids for Round 2021 of competitive bidding now have the ability to view their financial score in Connexion. As part of the bid process, the competitive bidding implementation contractor evaluated a bidder's financial health by reviewing financial documents and calculating a financial score. The financial score is available to all bidders, even those that bid on the 13 product categories that were recently removed from the bid program. AAHomecare encourages...

WASHINGTON - The Council for Quality Respiratory Care recognizes November as National COPD Awareness Month by commending CMS for its plans not to award competitive bidding contracts to 13 product categories, including oxygen supplies and equipment, in 2021. If finalized, the proposal would ensure that patients will be able to continue accessing oxygen supplies and equipment amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the CQRC says. “We applaud CMS for properly addressing policies that could have threatened...

AAHomecare has published key takeaways from CMS's recent proposed rule outlining changes to the fee schedule methodology starting April 1, 2021, or immediately after the public health emergency, whichever is later…AAHomecare's Stand Up for Homecare, held during last week's Medtrade Virtual Conference, raised $6,500 toward the association's commitment to support ITEM Coalition. The coalition is a policy steering group for more than 80 patient advocacy organizations that have been strong allies on...

The big news story right now is the election and the herculean efforts by various states to count the unprecedented number of absentee and mail-in ballots, a task that stretched out well beyond the Nov. 3 vote. The chants - count the votes by some, and stop the count by others - got me to thinking about CMS's recent decision to drop 13 product categories from Round 2021 of competitive bidding. When the news broke, there was a first wave of relief - the industry had been lobbying CMS to pause Round...