The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is extending the licensure deadline for the Round 2 and national mail-order competitions of the Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program. The original licensure deadline required suppliers to have all required state licenses on file with the National Supplier Clearinghouse (NSC) and indicated in the Provider Enrollment, Chain, and Ownership System (PECOS) before submitting a bid.
NEW DEADLINE: Bidding suppliers must now ensure that copies of all applicable state licenses are RECEIVED by the NSC on or before Tue May 1, 2012. Bids will be disqualified if a bidder does not meet all state licensure requirements for the applicable product categories and for every state in a competitive bidding area (CBA). Every supplier location is responsible for having all applicable license(s) for each state in which it provides services. For a multi-state CBA, the bidder must collectively have all applicable license(s) for every state in the CBA. Each location is not required to have licenses for every state in the CBA as long as each state has a bidding location licensed for the product category. Please note that the extension of the licensure deadline does NOT change any other deadlines. All bids must be submitted in DBidS, the online bidding system, by 8:59:59pm (prevailing Eastern Time) on Fri March 30, 2012. All required hardcopy documents that must be included as part of the bid package must be RECEIVED by the Competitive Bidding Implementation Contractor (CBIC) on or before Fri March 30, 2012. A licensure directory for each state, the District of Columbia, and the territories may be found on the NSC website at www.PalmettoGBA.com/NSC<http://www.palmettogba.com/NSC>. Licensure requirements vary from state to state. The NSC licensure directory provides a good starting point to assist in identifying the licenses you need. State licensure requirements change periodically and may have exceptions, so the NSC's licensure directory serves only as a guide. It remains the bidding supplier's responsibility to ensure compliance with the most current state and federal laws and regulations. For more information on licensure requirements, you may refer to the Licensure for Bidding Suppliers Fact Sheet<http://www.palmettogba.com/NSC> and the Request for Bids (RFB) Instructions<http://dmecompetitivebid.com/Palmetto/Cbic.nsf/files/R2_RFB.pdf/$FIle/R2_RFB.pdf>. If you have any questions, please contact the CBIC customer service center at 877-577-5331 between 9am and 9pm (Eastern Time) during the registration and bidding periods. Please note that the RFB instructions initially posted on the CBIC website contained the original licensure deadline. These instructions have now been updated to reflect the new licensure deadline shown in this announcement. ________________________________ It's Not too Late to Give and Get the Flu Vaccine. Take advantage of each office visit and protect your patients against the seasonal flu. Medicare will continue to pay for the seasonal flu vaccine and its administration for all Medicare beneficiaries through the entire flu season. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also recommends that patients, healthcare workers and caregivers be vaccinated against the seasonal flu. Protect your patients. Protect your family. Protect yourself. Get the Flu Vaccine-Not the Flu. Remember - The flu vaccine plus its administration are covered Part B benefits. CMS has posted the 2011-2012 seasonal flu vaccine payment limits at http://www.CMS.gov/McrPartBDrugAvgSalesPrice/10_VaccinesPricing.asp. Note that the flu vaccine is NOT a Part D-covered drug. For more information on coverage and billing of the flu vaccine and its administration, as well as related educational provider resources, visit http://www.CMS.gov/MLNProducts/35_PreventiveServices.asp and http://www.cms.gov/immunizations. ________________________________ Note: If you have problems accessing any hyperlink in this message, please copy and paste the URL into your Internet browser. If you know someone who would like to subscribe to a Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) provider listserv, go to (http://www.cms.gov/prospmedicarefeesvcpmtgen/downloads/Provider_Listservs.pdf). If you would like to unsubscribe from a specific provider listserv, please go to (https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa.exe?INDEX) 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.gov/ContactCMS). Thank you.
