The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has released its timeline for the re-compete of Round One of competitive bidding, which is scheduled for 2017.
Registration for user IDs and passwords for Round One 2017 began on Aug. 25, with Authorized Officials strongly encouraged to register by Sept. 14, and Backup Authorized Officials encouraged to register no later than Oct. 5. Registration officially closes Oct. 23.
After that, the bid window for Round One 2017 officially beings Oct. 15 and closes by Dec. 16. After that, CMS has set the following tentative dates:
- Winter 2016 — Preliminary bid evaluation notification.
- Summer 2016 — CMS announces single payment amounts, and begins contracting process.
- Fall 2016 — CMS announces contract suppliers, begins contract supplier education and begins beneficiary, referral agent and supplier education.
- Jan. 1, 2017 — CMS implements contracts and prices for the Round One 2017 Re-Compete.
But perhaps the most notable aspect of Round One 2017 was discovered by Kim Brummett, vice president of regulatory affairs for the American Association for Homecare: the 2017 re-compete’s contracts are significantly shorter than previous installments.
Speicifically, Round One 2017 contracts are listed as lasting only two years instead of the three years seen in other rounds. A statement from AAHomecare noted that the change lines up the close of Round One 2017 contracts with the close of Round Two, which close on Dec. 31, 2018.
“What this means is unclear, but hopefully it is a signal that CMS is thinking more strategically about the future of the program,” Brummett said in an AAHomecare statement. “With rates already bottoming out, it is hard to imagine the long term sustainability of the program in its current format.”