Bill Popomaronis, R.Ph., NCPA vice president, home health and long term care pharmacy services, provides his thoughts and explanations on the latest DME information from CMS.Congratulations NCPA members! Your e-mails, completed surveys, letters, and phone calls alerting Congress to the burdensome impact Medicare Part B billing supplier standards would have on your ability to provide access to important DMEPOS has been heard loud and clear.
NCPA’s successes include:
- Modifying accreditation standards so they take into consideration the already stringent standards pharmacies and pharmacists must comply with on the state level.
- Reducing accreditation agency fees and the introduction of pharmacist-friendly DMEPOS accreditation agencies (i.e. NABP, HQAA).
- The exclusion of diabetic monitors and testing supplies from competitive bidding for retail suppliers ONLY. Mail-order firms must competitively bid.
- Protections that require 30 percent winning bidders be small suppliers.
The bidding process will begin later this month, with CMS accepting bids for 60 days. Winning bids will be announced in December. CMS will use the median of the winning bids to establish “Medicare single payments,” which will apply universally to like products within each CBA. The Medicare single payments will replace current fee schedule amounts for those products, and will go into effect in April 2008.
If you plan to competitively bid, submit you accreditation application today! For more information on accreditation, visit NCPA’s DME Resource Center at www.pharmacistelink.com/medicaredme.
