Newspoll: Providers prep bid comments, assess business costs

YARMOUTH, Maine — Poll respondents say a future with Medicare's unpopular competitive bidding program looks "bleak and unfair.” They are preparing to muscle through in two ways: commenting on the proposed rule and looking at their costs. 

In a recent HME Newspoll, 69% of respondents said they planned to submit comments by the Aug. 29 deadline and another 62% also said they planned to contact their lawmakers. 

Racing to comment 

“First, I’ll be submitting comments and encouraging other DMEPOS providers to do the same,” wrote Kristina McIntosh, president of Schrader’s Medical Supply in California. 

McIntosh wrote she planned to focus her comments on proposed changes to bidding methodologies, which will produce unsustainable rates and reduce the number of suppliers. “Most importantly, (I will share my) concerns with patient access,” she wrote. 

Both AAHomecare and VGM Government Relations have launched resources to help, including an outline of the issues, advice for submitting comments and a competitive bidding toolkit.  

Looking at costs, alternatives 

While CMS hasn’t announced specific products for the bidding program, the agency in the proposed rule indicated it wants to include disposable medical supplies such as ostomy, tracheostomy and urological supplies. This is despite an original statute governing the program that does not include those supplies. 

“I’m deeply concerned about the next CMS competitive bidding program – it feels bleak and unfair,” wrote Pamela Jones of Home Medical Supplies in Colorado, which offers, among other products, urological, wound care and diabetes supplies. “We’re preparing by knowing our true costs, avoiding suicide bids, building alternative revenue streams and working with other providers.” 

Submitting bids or heading for the exit? 

When it comes to the actual bids, 43% of respondents say they accepted a bid in a previous round of the program and 54% plan to submit in the next round. 

“If prices drop significantly, we’ll offer only the lowest-cost equipment assess profitability,” wrote one respondent. “If it’s not sustainable, we won’t accept the bid and may exit Medicare entirely. Unfortunately, deep cuts would force us to provide only the most basic, least reliable equipment available.” 

Others are already planning their exit from traditional Medicare. 

“At this time, we are going to focus on Medicare MCO private health plans and cash pay,” wrote Trevor Cheatheam of Balcones Care Solutions in Arizona. “We are going to actively work to remove Medicare patients from our current census and will notify our current patients that if they switch to an MCO, they will be allowed to stay with us.” 

• Related: CMS signals potential big changes to bid program & ‘We know the headwind’: Stakeholders react to return of competitive bidding