Medicare to launch program to save on durable medical equipment

A new method set up by Medicare for reimbursement of medical equipment and supplies should result in an average savings to Medicare beneficiaries of 26 percent. The savings will be realized through the first round of a new competitive bidding program that will be used to price certain durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies. The first round of the program begins July 1, 2008 in Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Kansas City, Miami, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Riverside and San Juan. Suppliers that wished to participate in the program submitted bids last year. CMS will announce the contract suppliers once all contracts have been executed. As part of the first round of the competitive bidding program, beneficiaries and Medicare should expect to see significant savings on the cost of the medical equipment and supplies as seen by the examples of savings for three frequently used items (oxygen concentrators, semi-electric hospital beds, and blood glucose testing.

All suppliers that submitted bids are being notified of the final results of the bid evaluation by CMS. The bid evaluation process ensures that there will be a sufficient number of suppliers, including small suppliers, to meet the needs of the beneficiaries living in the competitive bidding areas. Because of these savings, beneficiaries living in the 10 first round communities (including Cleveland) will be choosing a new Medicare contract supplier. Additional information on the DMEPOS competitive bidding program is available at www.cms.hhs.gov/CompetitiveAcqforDMEPOS/