DMEPOS Competitive Bidding - Round 2021: Are You Ready?

Round 2021 of the Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program is coming soon.

Suppliers Interested in Bidding: Prepare Now

Get Bonded: Bidders must obtain a $50,000 bid surety bond from an authorized surety on the Department of the Treasury’s List of Certified Companies for each competitive bidding area (CBA) in which a bid is submitted. A copy of the bid surety bond(s) must be uploaded in Connexion, the program’s secure portal, by the close of the bid window. It is important to note, however, that bid surety bonds required for bidding in the DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program are not the same as the surety bonds required for DMEPOS supplier enrollment purposes. The legal business name (LBN) on your bid surety bond(s) must be the same as the LBN associated with the Provider Transaction Access Number (PTAN) you use to register for the DMEPOS Bidding System, DBidS, and Connexion. For more information, see the Bid Surety Bonds page.

Prepare Your Financial Documents: Bidders must upload in Connexion a tax return extract, balance sheet, income statement, statement of cash flows, and a credit report with a numerical credit score or rating by the close of the bid window.

Please carefully review the Required Financial Documents fact sheet, the Required Financial Documents by Business Type Table, the Required Documents Checklist, and the Sample Financial Statements on the Competitive Bidding Implementation Contractor (CBIC) website for instructions and guidelines. It is also important to note that many off-the-shelf accounting programs’ default settings do not generate properly formatted financial statements. We strongly recommend the use of an accounting professional to prepare your required financial documents.

Get Licensed: Contracts are only awarded to bidders that meet all applicable state licensing requirements by the close of the bid window. Therefore, each supplier location (identified by a PTAN) on your bid must be licensed for the lead and non-lead items in the product category for the particular CBA in which it currently furnishes or plans to furnish if awarded a DMEPOS Competitive Bidding contract. Licensing requirements change periodically, and it remains the responsibility of the bidder to identify, obtain, and have all current, non-expired required licenses reflected in the Provider Enrollment, Chain, and Ownership System (PECOS) by the close of the bid window. For additional information, please see the Licensure for Bidders fact sheet and the DMEPOS State License Directory on the National Supplier Clearinghouse (NSC) website.

Get Accredited: Each supplier location on a bid must be accredited by a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved accrediting organization for the lead and non-lead items in a product category by the close of the bid window. Any supplier that is interested in bidding for a product category but its location(s) is not currently accredited for that product category must take action now to get accredited. Accrediting organizations report updates to the NSC, so it is important that your locations are accredited early so your information will be up to date in PECOS by the close of the bid window. Further information on the DMEPOS accreditation requirements along with a list of the accrediting organizations are on the CMS website.

Review and Update Enrollment Records: Bidders must be DMEPOS suppliers in good standing with the NSC and maintain accurate enrollment information with the NSC and in PECOS throughout the bidding, bid evaluation, and contracting period of performance including:
     •  Contact information (name, Social Security number, and date of birth) for the authorized official(s)
     •  Products and services furnished, or planned to furnish, by the enrolled location(s)
     •  Each state in which the enrolled location(s) furnishes, or plans to furnish, items and services
     •  Applicable licensure and accreditation information
     •  An active PTAN for each location listed on their bid(s)
     •  Common ownership and common control information (see the Common Ownership and Common Control fact sheet
         for additional information)

It is also important that the NSC has your current liability insurance policy information on file. Without this information, the NSC cannot process any changes to your enrollment record(s). As a reminder, licenses and insurance documents may be uploaded directly to the NSC using the NSC Web Form Submission tool.

Attend the Webcast Series

As part of its bidder education program, CMS has announced an upcoming series of three webcasts to assist with the key components of the Round 2021 bidding process.

     May 14, 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. EDT - Bid Surety Bond and Lead Item Pricing
     May 21, 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. EDT - Preparing and Submitting Financial Documents
     May 28, 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. EDT - Registering and Submitting a Bid

You may register for each webcast by clicking on the corresponding webcast title above. You will also find other information, such as resources and audio requirements, on the registration page. You will be able to submit questions during the webcast; however, if you have questions before or after the webcasts, please submit them to cbic.admin@palmettogba.com with “Webcast Question” in the subject line. Recordings and handouts for each webcast will be available for those who are registered but unable to attend the live sessions so register now.

The CBIC is the official information source for bidders and bidder education. CMS cautions bidders about potential inaccurate information concerning the Competitive Bidding Program posted on websites other than the CBIC website. Bidders that rely on this information in the preparation or submission of their bids could be at risk of submitting a non-compliant bid. Visit the CBIC website for valuable resources and tools and to subscribe to Email Updates.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please call the CBIC customer service center at 877-577-5331 between 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. prevailing Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.