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WATERLOO, Iowa -- While the DME provider community continues to work strenuously to repeal the competitive bidding program, the VGM National Competitive Bidding Services team is hitting the road again.
Throughout July and August, the group will be co-hosting, along with respective state associations, full-day seminars, “Contracting Time is Here: Do You Know Your Game Plan?”
"With the announcement of the bid pricing set for June 25th, the timing is right. Providers need to know whether or not they're going to be offered a contract, what the value of that contract is to them, what the next step is, and what their options are. This applies for winning providers, non-contract providers, and non-bidding providers alike. There's something for everybody" said Mark Higley, vice president-development of VGM, one of the series' expert presenters.
The series will be presented by Higley; John Gallagher, vice president-government relations; Alan Morris, regulatory analyst, all from VGM; and attorney Neil Caesar, president, Health Law Center.
The series, designed for all providers affected by the bidding program, will focus on:
- Detailed overview of the contractual obligations for bid winners.
- Discussion about financially evaluating a bidding contract, including a take-home comprehensive Contract Evaluation Toolkit.
- Legal advice and legal document templates for subcontracting and change of ownership.
- Dos, don’ts, and tips on marketing your competitive bidding contract or subcontracting agreement.
- In-depth legislative update on activity on Capitol Hill related to the effort to repeal competitive bidding, as well as other DME industry issues.
“This program is very comprehensive. Our goal is to ensure providers are fully-informed as to what they can and can’t do” said Morris. ”We want bid winners and non-winners alike to be as well-equipped as one could be to survive this horrible program.”
The series will visit each of the nine Round One competitive bidding areas during the contracting period. The seminar schedule is as follows:
- July 13 – Cincinnati
- July 14 – Pittsburgh
- July 15 – Orlando
- July 20 – Dallas
- July 22 – Charlotte
- July 27 – Kansas City
- July 29 – Miami
- August 10 – Cleveland
- August 17 – Riverside
When asked about the effort to repeal the program, Gallagher said “Our focus remains on moving repeal legislation through Congress, and I remain very confident we’ll get it done. However, we can’t help but recognize the importance in preparing providers for the possibility that this program will move forward on Jan. 1, 2011.”
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