The center for regulatory effectiveness (CRE) sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) stating that there is  a “policy inconsistency” at CMS between its NCB program for DMEPOS and a competitive bidding program that is still under development for the Medciare Advantage Plan.

In the July 14 letter from CRE board of director member Jim Tozzi to OMB Deputy Director Jeffrey Zients, the CRE calls for all SBA-defined small businesses to provide HME at the competitive determined “single payment amount,” and that NCB contracts be non-transferable for no less than on year “to ensure that larger providers submit bids that are reflective of their operational capabilities.”

CRE also notes that the Medicare Advantage bid program would be used to set prices, but not determine which companies are eligible to participate at that price.

The letter noted that the round one rebid cannot go into effect until the OMB approves CMS’s interim rule “pursuant to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act,” and that it should not take effect until CMS can resolve the “fundamental policy conflict” between its two bid programs.

“I understand that it can be difficult to establish policy consistency among agencies,” Tozzi, who has worked for the OMB, wrote. “I find it difficult, however to understand why consistency cannot be achieved within a single agency.”