CMS Shoots Down Bid Transparency Request
Agency refuses congressional, industry calls to release Round One re-bid data.
- By David Kopf
- Sep 02, 2010
CMS has sent Congress a resounding “no way” in response to a congressional request for transparency regarding the re-bid of Round One of competitive bidding.
CMS sent a letter rejecting the request to Reps. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.) and Ralph Hall (R-Tex.), who spearheaded a congressional letter for CMS to provide transparency which was signed by 136 lawmakers and sent to CMS on Aug. 11. CMS will notify all 136 co-signers, as well.
Specifically the Altmire-Hall 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.
In its response, CMS refused the request make public the list of providers whose bids were used to determine the single payment amounts in the nine bidding areas. It also outlined steps it claims are a improvements that have been implemented to the program.
In its letter, CMS gave following explanation for its decision to not provide transparency:
“First and foremost, we believe that providing a series of interim lists of suppliers would result in beneficiary confusion, undermining the orderly and effective implementation of the program. In addition, we have not yet notified the suppliers whose bids were not among the winning bids and we believe that these suppliers should be notified before the names of the suppliers with winning bids are released to the public. Further, announcing a subset of suppliers before the contracting process is complete could be viewed as giving those suppliers an unfair competitive advantage.
“In addition, the premature release of information may jeopardize the procurement process itself,” the letter continued. “At the request of the DMEPOS industry, the Request for Bids, which outlined the requirements governing the bid submission and evaluation process, indicated that bidder information could only be disclosed in an anonymous or aggregate format and that proprietary information would be protected from disclosure. Further, standard procurement rules prohibit disclosing the identities of bidders until after contracts are final.”
The American Association for Homecare, which received a copy of the letter from its congressional contacts, reports that CMS plans to release the names of contract winners by the end of September, but notes that there is no statutory requirement that they do so. AAHomecare says is concerned this timeframe will not allow sufficient congressional review and time to educate beneficiaries. To read the letter from CMS, please click this link:
http://www.aahomecare.org/associations/3208/files/CMS%20Response%20to%20Transparency%20Request.pdf
AAHomecare adds that it is meeting with congressional staff in the offices of Reps. Altmire and Hall today to discuss the letter and strategies moving forward.
About the Author
David Kopf is the Editor of HME Business.