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CBIC is currently in the process of evaluating bids and computing composite bids. This is the first step of the contracting process for round one bidding entities.
If you submitted a bid last fall, you may see the following notification sent to you via e-mail.
Today, April 22, 2010, we sent you an urgent notification concerning the bid application you submitted for the Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program. THIS NOTIFICATION REQUIRES YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION AND ACTION, SO PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE IT.
PLEASE NOTE:? We sent the notification by common carrier to the correspondence address for the location used for registration. This is the mailing address provided on Section 2 of the 855S enrollment form on file with the National Supplier Clearinghouse (NSC).
If you receive this notification, you will receive a hard-copy request for additional information within a few days. The request will be for information regarding your bid in relation to the acquisition cost of products for certain HCPCS codes.
For each code included in the bidding program, CBIC has an undisclosed threshold at which they believe a bid is bona fide. If a provider bids below that amount, CBIC has the authority to request invoices or other information to prove that the product can actually be provided at the bid price. The following is an excerpt from CMS-1270-F, the competitive bidding Final Rule:
We recognize the necessity for a process to identify and eliminate irrational, infeasible bids. Accordingly, we will be evaluating bids to ensure that they are bona fide, and we may request that a supplier submit additional financial information, such as manufacturer invoices, so that we can verify that the supplier can provide the product to the beneficiary for the bid amount. If we conclude that a bid is not bona fide, we will eliminate the bid from consideration.
Receipt of a request for additional information does not necessarily mean something is wrong with your bid, and certainly doesn’t mean that you are automatically excluded. It only means that you need to send in documentation to justify your bid amount and prove that you can actually provide a product under the requested codes for the amounts bid.
The first round of requests was sent out this week, and includes the Mail-Order Diabetic Supplies product category, with all other product categories to follow shortly. Many mail-order supply providers may have bid based on pricing for off-brand test strips. For the first round of bidding, this is perfectly acceptable, and can be justified with an invoice or other suitable documentation. In subsequent rounds, suppliers will be bound to a specific list of acceptable brands, as was mandated by MIPPA:
(3) SPECIAL RULE IN CASE OF NATIONAL MAIL-ORDER COMPETITION FOR DIABETIC TESTING STRIPS.—Section 1847(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w–3(b)) is amended—
(A) by redesignating paragraph (10) as paragraph (11); and (B) by inserting after paragraph (9) the following new paragraph:
‘‘(10) SPECIAL RULE IN CASE OF COMPETITION FOR DIABETIC TESTING STRIPS.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to the competitive acquisition program for diabetic testing strips conducted after the first round of the competitive acquisition programs, if an entity does not demonstrate to the Secretary that its bid covers types of diabetic testing strip products that, in the aggregate and taking into account volume for the different products, cover 50 percent (or such higher percentage as the Secretary may specify) of all such types of products, the Secretary shall reject such bid. The volume for such types of products may be determined in accordance with such data (which may be market based data) as the Secretary recognizes.
‘‘(B) STUDY OF TYPES OF TESTING STRIP PRODUCTS.— Before 2011, the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services shall conduct a study to determine the types of diabetic testing strip products by volume that could be used to make determinations pursuant to subparagraph (A) for the first competition under the competitive acquisition program described in such subparagraph and submit to the Secretary a report on the results of the study. The Inspector General shall also conduct such a study and submit such a report before the Secretary conducts a subsequent competitive acquisition program described in subparagraph (A).’’.
If you receive a letter requesting additional information, DO NOT IGNORE IT! Failure to respond to the request as instructed will result in your bid being removed from consideration for contracting.
Additionally, CBIC does appear to be on target for the June release of Round One single payment amounts, as was reported by VGM in late 2009 and confirmed at the March PAOC meeting. At that time, CBIC will begin offering contracts.
For more information on competitive bidding, visit www.vgmncbservices.com.
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