In breaking news, CMS announced the next Round of Competitive Bidding (Round 2019). Bidding is schedule to open this summer. Of particular interest are five new competitive bid areas (CBA) that will see the first-ever bundled payment arrangement for CPAP. In the following five areas, the equipment will not cap and all supplies will be included in the monthly allowance: Mobile, AL; Santa Barbara, CA; DesMoines, IA; Lansing, MI; and Hickory, NC. A control city in the same states will be subject to the traditional, unbundled bids. This next round of bidding will also require a $50,000 surety bond for each CBA where bids are submitted as a condition of participation. Bidding is certain to be different this round!
And just hours ago, Senate Finance Committee Republicans voted to advance Rep. Tom Price’s HHS secretary nomination to the full senate for a vote. (Steven Mnuchin’s nomination for Treasury secretary also cleared.) After Democrats boycotted the meetings and failed to show for the vote, Republicans took “unprecedented action” and suspended the rule that required at least one member from each party to be present for a meeting to occur. Thereafter, a 14-0 vote advanced the candidate past committee. When a date is set for the full Senate to vote on the nomination, it will be announced via the Senate Executive Calendar.
And just hours ago, Senate Finance Committee Republicans voted to advance Rep. Tom Price’s HHS secretary nomination to the full senate for a vote. (Steven Mnuchin’s nomination for Treasury secretary also cleared.) After Democrats boycotted the meetings and failed to show for the vote, Republicans took “unprecedented action” and suspended the rule that required at least one member from each party to be present for a meeting to occur. Thereafter, a 14-0 vote advanced the candidate past committee. When a date is set for the full Senate to vote on the nomination, it will be announced via the Senate Executive Calendar.
These recent developments are certain to have DME suppliers wondering, “What lies ahead for the industry in 2017?” MiraVista and HME News have once again joined forces to help suppliers answer this very important question!
Industry experts Andrea Stark of MiraVista and Jeff Baird of Brown & Fortunato will take a look at trending topics and discuss the challenges and opportunities DME suppliers will face as the year progresses. During this event, suppliers will learn about the changes to the competitive bidding landscape, along with several other items of interest.
To highlight just a few topics:
- CMS awarded a national RAC contract to specifically focus on DME, Home Health and Hospice claims. Performant Recovery will be taking on this challenge and, as the contract gets seated, suppliers should expect an increase of new RAC related, audit activity.
- The Cures Act passage is just one piece of legislation that will impact your 2017. We will brief you on what to expect in the days to come.
- We have seen so many ripple effects of the currently constrained reimbursement environment. Perhaps you are embracing non-assigned claims or leveraging offshore resources for parts of your IT and business operations. Attorney Jeff Baird is going to share with you how to navigate the legal implications of leveraging these protocols.
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