On November 5, 2018, CMS posted the call for public comments regarding the potential for ventilators and off-the-shelf back and knee braces to be phased-in for the next round of the DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program.
Per the CMS website:
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is soliciting comments on the following new product categories, including their associated Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System codes, to be phased-in for the next round of the Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program:
Ventilators: E0465, E0466, E0467
Off-The-Shelf Back Braces: L0450, L0455, L0457, L0467, L0469, L0621, L0623, L0625, L0628, L0641, L0642, L0643, L0648, L0649, L0650, L0651
Off-The-Shelf Knee Braces: L1812, L1830, L1833, L1836, L1848, L1850, L1851, L1852
These new product categories will be phased-in under all competitive bidding areas in the next round of the DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program.
To submit a comment, please email it to [email protected]. In order for your comment to be considered, you must type “Competitive Bidding Product Categories” as the subject line for your email. Only comments submitted by 11:59:59 PM Prevailing Eastern Time on December 17,2018, with the subject line above will be considered.
Medicare recently announced that the competitive bid contracts will expire on December 31, 2018 and that there will be a two-year gap in the program, lasting through 2020. Should these products be included in the next round of competitive bidding, the enrollment/contracting process would start sometime in the middle of/late 2019 so that they could be included in "Round 2021" of the competitive bidding program. (Medicare has historically started the enrollment/contracting process roughly 18 months before the contracts go into effect.)
The deadline for submitting comments has been extended to December 17, 2018.