Medicare's Competitive Bidding Program for durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS) is designed to ensure beneficiaries with Original Medicare continue to receive quality medical equipment and related services from accredited suppliers, while reducing out-of-pocket expenses for Medicare beneficiaries and saving the Medicare program money.
Medicare's current fee schedule rates for DMEPOS items are overpriced and based on outdated, inflated supplier charges from over 20 years ago. Competitive bidding among suppliers will establish new, lower Medicare payment amounts for DMEPOS items. The DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program: * starts January 1, 2011 in nine areas of the country and will be phased into other areas in future years; * applies to Medicare beneficiaries who live in (or travel to) these areas and who buy or rent certain items of durable medical equipment and supplies; * includes items such as oxygen equipment and supplies, certain power wheelchairs, walkers, mail order diabetic supplies and hospital beds; and * selects enough qualified, accredited contract suppliers to meet Medicare beneficiaries' needs for competitively bid items and services. The nine initial competitive bidding areas are: * Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord (North Carolina and South Carolina) * Cincinnati-Middletown (Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana) * Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor (Ohio) * Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (Texas) * Kansas City (Missouri and Kansas) * Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach (Florida) * Orlando (Florida) * Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) * Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario (California) In order to help you stay fully and accurately informed about Medicare's DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program, CMS has prepared the first in a series of "program preview" documents, which can be found at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/Partnerships/03_DMEPOS_Toolkit.asp. We encourage you to share this information with your local affiliates throughout the country, particularly in the nine initial competitive bidding areas. Please note that "program preview" documents are not intended for distribution to Medicare beneficiaries. We'll be forwarding materials for you to share with beneficiaries later this year when DMEPOS users may need to take action. There's still time to get the seasonal flu shot! Although influenza activity has declined recently, it still may continue for several months.[1] The Centers for Disease Control continues to recommend that patients and health care providers and caregivers be vaccinated against seasonal influenza. CMS encourages health care providers to use each office visit as an opportunity to talk with Medicare your patients about the importance of getting a seasonal flu shot. And remember, it is also important to immunize yourself and your staff. Remember - Seasonal influenza vaccinations and their administration are covered Part B benefits. Note that influenza and pneumococcal vaccines are NOT Part D covered drugs. For information about Medicare's coverage of the seasonal influenza virus vaccine and its administration, as well as related educational resources for health care professionals and their staff, please go to http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNProducts/Downloads/flu_products.pdf on the CMS website. You will find a variety of resources that explain Medicare coverage and claims submission policies related to the seasonal influenza vaccine. For information on Medicare policies related to H1N1 influenza, please go to http://www.cms.hhs.gov/H1N1 on the CMS website. __________________ [1] Seasonal Influenza (Flu). [online]. Atlanta, GA: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, January 19, 2010 [cited 21 January 2010]. Available from the World Wide Web: (http://www.cdc.gov/flu) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------- Note: If you have problems accessing any hyperlink in this message, please copy and paste the URL into your Internet browser. If you received this message as part of the All FFS Providers listserv, you are currently subscribed to one of eighteen Medicare Fee-For-Service provider listservs. If you would like to be removed from all NIH listservs, please go to (https://list.nih.gov/LISTSERV_WEB/signoff.htm <https://list.nih.gov/LISTSERV_WEB/signoff.htm> ) to unsubscribe. If you would like to unsubscribe from a specific provider listserv, please go to (https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/show_list_archives <https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/show_list_archives> ) to unsubscribe or to leave the appropriate listserv. Please DO NOT respond to this email. This email is a service of CMS and routed through an electronic mail server to communicate Medicare policy and operational changes and/or updates. Responses to this email are not routed to CMS personnel. Inquiries may be sent by going to (http://www.cms.hhs.gov/ContactCMS <http://www.cms.hhs.gov/ContactCMS> ). Thank you. ________________________________ ________________________________ [1] Seasonal Influenza (Flu). [online]. Atlanta, GA: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, January 19, 2010 [cited 21 January 2010]. Available from the World Wide Web: (http://www.cdc.gov/flu)
