a
Medical Development Company
Small Medical Equipment Suppliers Criticize New CMS Rule
The
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Friday examined how a new
CMS competitive
bidding rule "has some small medical suppliers ... worried that
they'll be locked out of a market that historically has provided a
third or more of their business" (Toland, Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette, 1/11).
Under the current system, CMS uses prior sales data to determine
prices for durable medical equipment, which acting CMS Administrator
Kerry Weems says leads to overpayments. The new system requires
suppliers to have accreditation and to submit bids. Only suppliers
that submit bids less than a threshold established by CMS can
participate in Medicare (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 1/9).
The Post-Gazette notes that the rule "theoretically will
reduce the price Medicare will pay for 'durable medical equipment' by
up to 20%, a tight shave for small businesses that don't buy equipment
in bulk." Providers that are considered small businesses say that the
new rule will favor large suppliers. The rule also will create a list
of "authorized" Medicare providers, with small businesses guaranteed
30% of the total business, according to the Post-Gazette.
Michael Reinemer of the
American
Association for Homecare said under the new rules, several
thousand suppliers will be cut from the nationwide list of about
20,000. "Our fear is that it may create a sort of rush to the bottom,
in terms of quality," Reinemer said (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,
1/11).