COMPETITIVE BIDDING FOR DMEPOS - EDUCATION 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and its implementation contractor (CBIC) have issued important supplier educational materials to assist suppliers in preparing for the opening of the bidding process.  These materials include a supplier tool kit, fact sheets, web-cast, and "frequently-asked questions" (FAQs), and can be found on the CBIC web-site at: 
http://www.dmecompetitivebid.com/cbic/cbic.nsf/(pages)/home.  Announcements concerning future supplier education activities can also be found here. 

GET ACCREDITED FOR DMEPOS COMPETITIVE BIDDING!

In order to participate in the Medicare DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program, suppliers must meet quality standards and be accredited by a CMS-approved Deemed Accreditation Organization.  Suppliers that are interested in bidding under the new program must be aware of two key deadlines:

• Suppliers must be accredited or be pending accreditation to submit a bid.  CMS cannot accept a bid from any supplier that is not accredited or that has not applied for accreditation.
• Suppliers will need to be accredited to be awarded a contract.  The accreditation deadline for the first round of competitive bidding is October 31, 2007.  Suppliers must be accredited before this date to be awarded a contract.  Suppliers should apply for accreditation immediately to allow adequate time to process their applications.

For a list of the CMS-approved Deemed Accreditation Organizations and information about the Medicare DMEPOS Competitive Bidding program, see the downloads section.

REGISTRATION HAS BEEN REOPENED FOR SUPPLIERS INTERESTED IN COMPETITIVE BIDDING FOR DMEPOS

CMS has reopened the registration period to all suppliers interested in participating in the Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program.   Interested suppliers will submit their bids using an internet application. To help ensure the privacy of all bids, all suppliers must complete the registration in the internet application to get a USER ID and password.  We strongly recommend that they do so immediately to avoid a delay in being able to submit bids.

The registration process requires the authorized official, as identified in Section 15 of the CMS 855S, to complete the information required in the internet application.  The authorized official's information must match the information on file at the National Supplier Clearinghouse. The USER ID and password will be mailed to the authorized official if his/her submitted information matches exactly the data on file for last name, date of birth, Social Security number and supplier number.   The USER ID and password will be delivered in 2 separate mailings to the authorized official at the correspondence address (Section 2A.2) listed on the CMS 855S.   An authorized official only needs ONE USER ID and password in order to submit bids for any company for which he/she was listed as the authorized official on the CMS 855S.  It is important to remember that only one company representative using the same user ID and password should access the CBSS at one time. For security reasons, suppliers should not have more than one representative entering data in the system at the same time. In addition, multiple users at the same time with the same user ID may jeopardize the integrity of your data.  To complete this registration and obtain a USER ID and password, please go to:
https://applications.cms.hhs.gov.

Suppliers must have the USER ID and password before they can enter a bid into the competitive bidding internet application.  

Please read the user guide for the Individuals Authorized Access to CMS Computer Services (IACS) application before attempting registration.  This guide can be found on the Competitive Bidding Implementation Contractor's website (see Related Links below).  If you have any questions about the registration process, please contact the Competitive Bidding Implementation Contractor (CBIC) helpdesk on 1-877-577-5331.  The helpdesk will be available Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. prevailing Eastern Time.

Important note:   For added security, when suppliers use their USER IDs and passwords to access the Competitive Bid Submission System for the first time, they will need to complete a brief authentication process.  The information required for this process must also match the information in the National Supplier Clearinghouse file.  If you successfully completed registration and received your USER ID and password, please enter your information exactly as you did for registration when completing the Competitive Bid Submission System authentication process. Failure to do so may delay your ability to use the system.

MEDICARE ANNOUNCES THE COMPETITIVE BIDDING AREAS AND PRODUCT CATEGORIES FOR THE FIRST ROUND OF THE DMEPOS COMPETITIVE BIDDING PROGRAM

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a final rule that will improve the accuracy of Medicare's payments for certain durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) through a new competitive bidding program.  Information on the final rule is available from the Regulation Notices link on the left.

ACTIVE SUPPLIER LIST

See the "Downloads" section for the NSC (National Supplier Clearinghouse) monthly list of Active Suppliers.

DURABLE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT (DME) CENTER
For a one-stop resource web page focused on the informational needs and interests of Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) DMEPOS suppliers, go to the DME Center (see under "Related Links Inside CMS" below).

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/CompetitiveAcqforDMEPOS/