CMS Pitches Congress on NCB
Officials brief two committees on the competitive bidding’s timeline.
As the homecare industry pushes for support of the Meek bill, so to is CMS stepping up its effort to drive support for its competitive bidding program. Senior CMS officials this week briefed members and staff of the House Ways and Means and the House Energy and Commerce Committees on its national competitive bidding program in order to tout improvements to the bill.
“The briefing was designed to sell Congress on the improvements that have been made to the bidding program, in spite of the fact that the program is still fundamentally flawed and will have a disastrous effect on both homecare patients and providers,” read a statement from the American Association for Homecare, concerning the briefing.
According to one of the participants in today's congressional briefing audience, the timeline that senior CMS officials sketched out includes the following:
Round One
- CMS will announce Round One “winners” in June 2010.
- New contracts and prices will be implemented January on 1, 2011.
- CMS will hold a Program Advisory and Oversight Committee (PAOC) meeting on March 17, 2010 “as mandated by law” to focus on the Round One transition period and show plans for beneficiary education, including where beneficiaries can go for services and what has changed for beneficiaries.
Round Two
- Round Two of bidding must begin in 2011, according to the statute.
- CMS is extending review times due to the increase in MSA’s – from areas in Round One to 79 metropolitan areas in Round Two.
- Rule Making: CMS expects that changes to the bidding program will require the agency to go through the rulemaking process. CMS anticipates that a proposed rule will be published in Summer 2010 with a final rule published in Fall 2010. The rule will include product categories and education requirements for Round Two.
- Winter 2010: CMS will announce the bid schedule and begin registration.
- Spring 2011: CMS will end registration and begin bidding.
- Summer 2011: CMS will end bidding and begin review process.
- Fall 2011: CMS will end review process, notify HME providers, and begin evaluating bids.
- Spring 2012: CMS will announce “winning” providers and begin contract bids.
- Summer 2012: CMS will announce contract rates.
- Round Two pricing will go into effect on January 1, 2013.
Both AAHomecare and the National Association for Independent Medical Equipment Suppliers urged providers to continue the industry-wide drive for co-sponsors for H.R. 3790, the bill introduced by Rep. Kendrick Meek (D.-Fla.) that calls for the repeal of competitive bidding.