On July 15th, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced plans to recompete the supplier contracts awarded in Round 2 and the national mail-order competitions of the Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program.
If you are a supplier intending to bid, prepare now – don’t wait!
GET LICENSED!
The Medicare DMEPOS Supplier Standards require every supplier location to be licensed as applicable by the state in which it provides products and services. Contracts are only awarded to suppliers that meet all state licensing requirements by the close of the bid window. It is important to note that in the Round 2 Recompete, competitive bidding areas (CBAs) that were located in multi-state metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) have been defined so that no CBA is included in more than one state. As a result, there are 117 CBAs in the Round 2 Recompete. Each physical location on your bid must be licensed for the product category by the state in which it provides items and services.
If you plan to bid in the national mail-order recompete, you must have the applicable license(s) for those states that require a license to provide mail-order diabetic testing supplies. The CBA includes all ZIP codes in all parts of the United States, including the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa.
Steps to take NOW:
- Have a copy of the required state license(s) on file with the National Supplier Clearinghouse (NSC) and in the Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS) for the physical location(s) that will be on your bid to provide the items in the product category(s).
- Make sure your CMS-855S enrollment application is up-to-date with the NSC and in PECOS and indicates the products you furnish in the states where you provide the items.
For reference purposes, please review the NSC DMEPOS State License Directory on its website at www.palmettogba.com/NSC. The directory provides general state licensing requirements and contact information for each state’s licensing board or agency. The directory is only a guide. Licensing requirements change periodically, and it remains the responsibility of the bidding supplier to identify and obtain all required licenses. For more information about licensure requirements, please consult the appropriate license issuing agency listed on the guides or call the NSC at 866-238-9652.
For a listing of the product categories, CBAs, time line, and other valuable bidding information, please visit the Competitive Bidding Implementation Contractor (CBIC) website at www.dmecompetitivebid.com. We also encourage you to register on the website to receive email updates about the program.
As a reminder, the CBIC is the official information source for bidders and bidder education. CMS cautions bidding suppliers about potential inaccurate information concerning the Competitive Bidding Program posted on non-government websites. Suppliers that rely on this information in the preparation or submission of their bids could be at risk of submitting a non-compliant bid.
If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact the CBIC customer service center at 877-577-5331 between 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.