Thompson questions CMS bidding practices

Reps. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) and Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) recently questioned Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner about the Competitive Bidding Program for Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics and Medical Supplies.

“Last week, a bipartisan majority in the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to Administrator Tavenner documenting specific failures and abuses that took place under round two of competitive bidding for DMEPOS,” Thompson said. “Since that time, the CMS administrator responded to members of the Tennessee delegation who sent a letter to the agency outlining a similar set of concerns. The administrator’s response was evasive, incomplete and failed to answer these serious questions.”

A total of 227 members of the House, including 82 Democrats, signed the letter that was recently spearheaded by Thompson and Braley. It outlined critical flaws and abuses in the program and requested CMS to delay further implementation until issues are fully addressed and fixed.

“The Medicare bidding system the Obama administration is seeking to impose on medical equipment providers is deeply flawed, endangering small businesses and local jobs,” Braley said. “Worse, imposing regional monopolies reduces choices for Medicare beneficiaries and threatens to replace local providers who know patients and their unique needs with faraway corporations. The free market should be allowed to work within Medicare, and that’s why we’ve introduced this bipartisan bill.”

Thompson and Braley recently introduced the Transparency and Accountability in Medicare Bidding Act that would force Tavenner to delay moving forward with implementation until the flaws identified with the program have been addressed and fixed.