WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 16, 2016)—On March 15, CMS announced the new single payment amounts and began sending offers to winning bidders for the competitive bidding Round 2 Recompete and the national mail-order recompete for diabetic testing supplies.

The Round 2 Recompete and the national mail-order recompete contracts will become effective on July 1, 2016 and run through December 31, 2018, taking the place of original Round 2 and national mail order contracts currently in place.

More than 12,000 contract offers have been made to 637 Round 2 Recompete bidders. Bidders who currently furnish items in the awarded area or within the product category received 93 percent of the new offers in the Round 2 Recompete.

Nine companies will receive offers under the national mail order recompete for diabetic testing supplies.

Single payment amounts for the Round 2 Recompete and national diabetic testing supplies recompete can be found here, as well as a summary of contracts offered in each CBA. Additional information is also available in CMS' new fact sheet on the recompetes.

In order to respond to contract offers and receive correspondence, authorized officials and backup authorized officials must log into CMS' online Connexion portal. According to the site, contract offers and other correspondence will only be communicated through Connexion and will not be mailed. Several providers communicated their frustration that the Connexion site went down as soon as CMS’ notice went out; the site appears to be back in operation now, but AAHomcare will continue to monitor its availability.

The Round 2 Recompete product categories are:

  • Enteral Nutrients, Equipment, and Supplies
  • General Home Equipment and Related Supplies and Accessories—includes hospital beds and related accessories, group 1 and 2 support surfaces, commode chairs, patient lifts, and seat lifts
  • Nebulizers and Related Supplies
  • Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) Pumps and Related Supplies and Accessories
  • Respiratory Equipment and Related Supplies and Accessories—includes oxygen, oxygen equipment, and supplies; continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices and respiratory assist devices (RADs) and related supplies and accessories
  • Standard Mobility Equipment and Related Accessories—includes walkers, standard power and manual wheelchairs, scooters, and related accessories
  • Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) Devices and Supplies

AAHomecare will provide additional analysis and perspective in the coming days on what this latest round of prices and contract offers will mean for HME providers and patients.

Visit aahomecare.org for more information.