No CMS Reply to Altmire-Hall Letter
CMS late to respond to congressional request for Round One re-bid transparency.
CMS has yet to reply to congressional letter spearheaded by Reps. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) and Ralph Hall (R-Tex.) that calls for CMS to provide transparency in the Round One re-bid. Signed by 136 lawmakers and sent on August 11, the letter asked CMS to respond by August 20. So far, AAHomecare says it has not yet been made aware of any CMS reply.
Specifically the letter asked CMS to reveal which HME providers were awarded contracts in the re-bid of Round One of competitive bidding and those who were offered contracts after the fact, at prices well below what they bid.
“Without knowing the identity, as well as the appropriate overall qualifications of these providers, we cannot evaluate the program’s impact in terms of quality and access to care for seniors we represent,” states the congressional letter, sent to the attention of CMS Administrator Donald Berwick, M.D.
“We are pleased that so many members of Congress understand the need for transparency and the urgency of this request,” said Tyler Wilson, president of AAHomecare. “Transparency for the bid process is critical given past problems with this whole program. If CMS delays the release of information until fall, it will impede the ability to assess the impact of the bidding program on Medicare patients.
“One of our concerns is that providers who submitted low, desperation bids out of their perceived need to remain a Medicare supplier could well determine the government’s reimbursement rates – even if those companies ultimately declined to actually provide the equipment at those rates.”
In the first round of the bidding program in 2008, 90 percent of qualified providers were barred from serving Medicare beneficiaries for the bid-upon items. AAHomecare says that despite the MIPPA-required re-bid of Round One, CMS has ignored congress’s intent of the re-bid and has not addressed the flaws that precipitated the delay two years ago.