Last week, Medicare Rights Center President Joe Baker weighed in on the competitive bidding demonstration in a Huffington Post blog post entitled, “Better Prices on Medical Equipment—Good for Medicare, Good for Beneficiaries.” The post outlines the benefits of the bidding demonstration for durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS), which the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) expanded to 91 communities on July 1st. Expansion of the DMEPOS bidding demonstration allows the federal government to secure lower prices on medical equipment, which in turn means savings for both Medicare beneficiaries and taxpayers.
The first round of the competitive bidding program, which went into effect in nine areas of the country on January 1, 2011, has proven successful on many counts. The program was designed to diminish fraud by medical suppliers insistent on inappropriately selling medical supplies, such as oxygen tanks, wheelchairs, and hospital beds. In addition, the Medicare program has historically paid too much for medical equipment. In 2007, Medicare paid suppliers $4,000 for power wheelchairs that only cost the suppliers $1,000 to purchase. These overpriced costs not only affect the Medicare program, but also increase costs for Medicare beneficiaries. In 2006, the average beneficiary paid more than twice the market rate for oxygen tank rentals.
Under competitive bidding, the Medicare program has saved an estimated $400 million since 2011, and the demonstration is expected to save Medicare an estimated $25.7 billion over the next 10 years. These savings will be passed on to Medicare beneficiaries, as the demonstration is expected to reduce cost sharing by $17.1 billion.
In his blog post, Mr. Baker addresses false claims cited by opponents of the bidding demonstration, including that the demonstration limits access to needed equipment. The demonstration includes several beneficiary protections, helping to ensure that beneficiaries are able to access the equipment they need. In fact, there is no evidence to support claims that the competitive bidding process limits access to care. In addition to the recent blog post, Mr. Baker released a statement on the expansion of the DMEPOS demonstration, calling the competitive bidding program “a triple win: better costs for beneficiaries, better prices for Medicare and a better deal for American taxpayers.”
Read Mr. Baker’s blog post.
Read Mr. Baker’s statement.
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