Tomorrow night is the deadline for submissions in the first round of national competitive bidding. At 9 p.m. ET Tuesday, Sept. 25, the bidding stops and the waiting begins as HME providers anticipate CMS’ decision next February. Barring legislative or judicial intervention, the second round of competitive bidding will commence next July and involve HMEs in some 70 cities nationwide.

Tuesday’s deadline applies not only to electronically submitted bids, but also to the hard copies of bidding documents, which must bear tomorrow’s postmark.

CMS is reminding bidders to certify their bids on the competitive bidding Web site. The online version of Form B includes a clickable Certify button. HMEs are also required to print and sign the certification document, which goes to CMS along with the other required hard-copy bidding documents. CMS will deem uncertified bids as incomplete.

Some providers recently reported finding their bids classified as incomplete when they went online to double-check their submissions, prompting reminders that bidders should use the online bidding system to ensure their packages are complete.