Accreditation Required for Nebulizer, Enteral Sales; but NOT Part B Drugs

In a recent conference call, CMS clarified that a pharmacy must be accredited if it supplies nebulizers (i.e., DMEPOS) for Part B drugs, but not if it supplies only Part B drugs and no DME. Thus, if a customer obtains Part B drugs from a pharmacy, but obtains the nebulizer elsewhere, the pharmacy does not need to be accredited.

However, CMS emphasized that enteral nutrients, equipment, and supplies are considered DMEPOS for purposes of the Competitive Bidding Program, so a pharmacy supplying these items requires accreditation.

Why It’s So Hard! Why It’s So Important to Independents!

The next time someone asks you why being an NCPA member is important, or why supporting NCPAPAC or the LDF is critical to your business margins, or why it is so hard to get Congress to make our legislation a priority in the face of competing interests, you can cite the info in this article:

• Health care interests spend more on federal lobbying ($445 million) than any other sector of the economy ($2.8 B total in 2007).
• In terms of specific organizations or companies, the number three spender was PhRMA (tied with AMA at $22.1 million). Number one was the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which paid its in-house and outside lobbyists $53 million.

CMS Releases Revised CMS-855 Medicare Enrollment Applications

Over the last year, CMS has received numerous comments and suggestions regarding the proposed revisions to the Medicare enrollment applications. CMS reviewed the comments and adopted many of the suggested revisions. Also, CMS incorporated a number of enhancements and changes to clarify the enrollment process and to reduce the burden imposed on the provider and supplier communities. Make sure your DMEPOS department understands the changes to avoid costly approval delays.

For more information, click here.

But, How Many Small Suppliers Were Pharmacists?

In announcing the first round of competitive bidding winners, CMS SAYS it ensured that small suppliers had the opportunity to participate in the competitive bidding program.

More than 6,300 bids were received from hundreds of suppliers. Sixty-four percent of winning bidders are "small" suppliers. How many pharmacists were winning bidders? I don’t know, but I’m going to do my best to find out!