Round Two Bidding Ends Today
CMS reminds DMEPOS providers in Round Two CBAs that they must submit by 9 p.m. ET.
- By David Kopf
- Mar 30, 2012
HME providers participating in Round Two of CMS's competitive bidding program must submit their bids into the DBidS online bidding system, by 8:59:59 p.m. prevailing Eastern Time today, according to the Competitive Bidding Implementation Contractor (CBIC).
Also all required hardcopy documents that must be included as part of the bid package must be received by CBIC today, with CBIC emphasizing the word "received" it is reminders running up to the deadline.
Other important Round Two reminders:
- The Round 2 and national mail-order competitive bidding areas, product categories, DBidS information, bid preparation worksheets, educational materials, and complete Request for Bids (RFB) instructions can be found on the CBIC website at www.DMECompetitiveBid.com. Providers should review this information prior to submitting their bids.
- Participating providers must submit their bids in DBidS using the user ID they received during registration. If they have not already logged in to DBidS, CBIC strongly recommended that they do so immediately to have plenty of time to complete their bids. If they have forgotten their user ID or password, they can recover them by using the “Forgot Your User ID?” and “Forgot Your Password?” buttons located on the Individuals Authorized Access to the CMS Computer Services (IACS) login page.
- Providers' authorized official or backup authorized official must approve their Form A and certify their Form B before the close of bidding. If a provider modifies its bid after it has been approved or certified, it will need to be reapproved or recertified. If Form A is not approved or Form B is not certified, the provider's bid cannot be evaluated, and it will not be considered for a contract. Providers can verify the status of their forms by logging into DBidS and checking the status screen.
- All bidders must submit certain required hardcopy documents as specified in the RFB instructions. It is very important that providers review the hardcopy documents section and the sample financial statements in the RFB instructions to ensure their documents include the required information. CMS also encouraged providers to use the Hardcopy Document Package Checklist, which can be found in Appendix B of the RFB. If a provider have already submitted its financial documents, it had the option to amend those documents, but they had to be received (and again, CBIC stressed the word "received") by CBIC on or before March 30, and could only be received by mail, not fax or email.
- All bidders participating in the national mail-order competition for diabetic testing supplies must complete and submit the National Mail-Order 50 Percent Compliance form on the CBIC website. Only one form should be submitted per bidder number. They must not change the printed form in any way. They must also ensure that all pages of the form are included in the hardcopy document package. If the form is not received (there's that word, again) on or before March 30, their bids for the national mail-order competition will be disqualified.
- If a provider submitted financial documents by the covered document review date (CDRD), Feb. 29, it should receive an email about its financial documents from the CBIC by May 14. If it did not submit all of the required financial documents, the email will alert the provider to expect a letter notifying it of the specific missing financial documents. This letter will be mailed to the provider’s authorized official. The provider will be required to submit the indicated missing financial documents within 10 business days of the notification. If it submitted all required financial documents, the email will confirm that CBIC received all required financial documents and that no further action from the provdier is required. If the provider did not submit any financial documents by the CDRD, it will not receive an email or a letter about its financial documents.
- If a provider did not submit any hardcopy financial documents by the CDRD, it was still required to submit all required hardcopy documents specified in the RFB instructions on or before today.
If providers have any questions, they should contact the CBIC customer service center at (877) 577-5331 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Eastern Time.
About the Author
David Kopf is the Editor of HME Business.