DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program Focuses on Providing Access to High-Quality Products and Services for People with Medicare
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched the first phase of the Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program on Saturday, January 1, 2011, in nine different areas of the country. Through supplier competition, the program set new, lower payment rates for certain medical equipment and supplies, such as oxygen equipment, certain power wheelchairs and mail order diabetic supplies. CMS estimates that Medicare and beneficiaries will pay 32-percent less on average for these equipment and supplies. In most cases, Medicare beneficiaries who obtain these items in the nine competitive bidding areas will need to get them from the Medicare suppliers that were awarded contracts in order to have the items covered under Medicare. More than four million Medicare beneficiaries living in the nine competitive bidding areas can save money through this new program, while continuing to have access to quality medical equipment from accredited suppliers they can trust. We are pleased to report that implementation of the program is going very smoothly. We continue to deploy a wide array of resources across all of the competitive bidding areas to address any concerns that may arise, including local State Health Insurance and Assistance Program (SHIP) offices, specially-trained customer service representatives at 1-800-MEDICARE, and caseworkers in Medicare's regional offices who all stand ready to assist beneficiaries who may have questions about the program. In addition, there is a complaint and inquiry process for beneficiaries, caregivers, doctors, referral agents, and suppliers to use for reporting concerns about a contract supplier or other competitive bidding implementation issues. This process is designed to ensure that all complaints are correctly routed, investigated, resolved, tracked, and reported. To read the entire CMS Press Release issued on this topic on Wed Feb 16, visit http://www.CMS.gov/apps/media/press_releases.asp. Read more about how the Affordable Care Act improves Medicare at http://www.Healthcare.gov/law/provisions/rebate/index.html. And for additional information about the Medicare DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program, please visit http://www.CMS.gov/DMEPOSCompetitiveBid<http://www.CMS.gov/DMEPOSCompetitiveBid/>. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ February Flu Shot Reminder It's Not too Late to Give and Get the Flu Vaccine. Take advantage of each office visit and continue to protect your patients against the seasonal flu. Medicare will continue to pay for the seasonal flu vaccine and its administration for all Medicare beneficiaries through the entire flu season. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that patients, health care workers and caregivers be vaccinated against the seasonal flu. Protect your patients. Protect your family. Protect yourself. Get Your Flu Vaccine - Not the Flu. Remember - Influenza vaccine plus its administration are covered Part B benefits. Note that influenza vaccine is NOT a Part D covered drug. For information about Medicare's coverage of the influenza vaccine and its administration, as well as related educational resources for health care professionals and their staff, please visit the following CMS websites: http://www.cms.gov/MLNProducts/Downloads/Flu_Products.pdf and http://www.cms.gov/AdultImmunizations. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: If you have problems accessing any hyperlink in this message, please copy and paste the URL into your Internet browser. If you know someone who would like to subscribe to a Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) provider listserv, go to (http://www.cms.gov/prospmedicarefeesvcpmtgen/downloads/Provider_Listservs.pdf). If you would like to unsubscribe from a specific provider listserv, please go to (https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa.exe?INDEX) to unsubscribe or to leave the appropriate listserv. Please DO NOT respond to this email. This email is a service of CMS and routed through an electronic mail server to communicate Medicare policy and operational changes and/or updates. Responses to this email are not routed to CMS personnel. Inquiries may be sent by going to (http://www.cms.gov/ContactCMS). Thank you.
