Research & Commentary: Competitive Bidding on Durable Medical Equipment (Update)

Printer Friendly Version

Medicare, which provides health coverage for elderly and disabled Americans, is the nation’s largest purchaser of almost everything medical. Over more than a decade, the program has launched several experiments with competitive bidding for durable medical equipment. The bidding program is designed to decrease the prices Medicare pays for these products while raising or maintaining quality. Many of the biggest expansions will happen over the next few years.

While hardly anybody objects to the program in principle, many, including a large group of academic experts on auctions and bidding, have criticized its particular construction. They argue that the process violates the rules of good competitive bidding auction design and hence is unlikely to produce its promised savings and may sacrifice quality of care.

A real-world example of the flaws in the competitive bidding process is the lost savings from sound durable medical products such as negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT)—the first category of complex products likely to be subjected to the full gamut of bids. Using negative pressure wound therapy as a test case, an American Consumer Institute study found that negative pressure wound therapy pumps produce “$7 of benefits for every $1 of costs, with the current nationwide benefit for NPWT to be $7.1 billion with the potential benefit of 14.8 if NPWT were more widely used.”

By limiting the availability and use of these and other products through the disruptive auction process, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) could block billions in potential savings on medical costs.

The following articles discuss the competitive bidding program and its effects on the negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) market.


CMS Bidding System Will Increase Medical Costs: A Cost/Benefit Analysis
http://www.heartland.org/healthpolicy-news.org/article/30107
This report from the American Consumer Institute uses a cost/benefit approach to provide evidence on the impact that the current bidding process will have on medical patients and society.

Comparison of Prices for Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Pumps
http://www.heartland.org/firepolicy-news.org/article/30108
The Office of the Inspector General compares the prices that suppliers paid for new pump models to Medicare’s purchase price. The OIG recommends in this study that CMS consider including the pumps in the second round of the DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Acquisition Program.

Letter from 167 Concerned Auction Experts on Medicare Competitive Bidding Program
http://www.cramton.umd.edu/papers2010-2014/comments-of-concerned-auction-experts-on-medicare-bidding.pdf
This letter from various auction experts discusses several flaws in the competitive bidding program that need to be fixed before it can achieve the objectives of low cost and high quality.

Medicare and Competitive Bidding for Complex Therapeutic Devices
http://www.healthpolicy-news.org/article/29329
This Policy Brief from The Heartland Institute describes the system of competitive bidding for medical devices and its effects on the availability and price of those products.

CRS: Medicare Durable Medical Equipment: The Competitive Bidding Program
http://www.healthpolicy-news.org/article/29562
The Congressional Research Service documents the legislative history of the Medicare DMEPOS Competitive Acquisition Program. The report summarizes suppliers’ implementation concerns and outlines various responses to those concerns: administrative responses, GAO analysis of implementation issues, and subsequent legislation to amend the program.

GAO: Competitive Bidding for Medical Equipment and Supplies Could Reduce Program Payments, but Adequate Oversight Is Critical
http://www.healthpolicy-news.org/article/29563
This report from the Government Accountability Office studies competitive bidding for medical devices, finding that competitive bidding can create savings for the Medicare program but requires significant oversight to ensure the quality of the medical products.

National Association for Home Care & Hospice: Reject Competitive Bidding for Home Medical Equipment
http://www.nahc.org/NAHC/legreg/LobbyDay/03/hmebidding.pdf
The National Association for Home Care & Hospice criticizes the competitive bidding program in this press release, arguing that the process is anti-competitive, retards medical product innovation, and limits access to medically necessary products and services.

Tags: , , ,

56 Responses to “Research & Commentary: Competitive Bidding on Durable Medical Equipment (Update)”

  1. Jc Klingerman July 16, 2011 at 7:04 pm #

    hello,this article is great,I found it on google and I love it very much,I agree with you, lots of things will be learned form your site,but I am not follw well with the last part,can you explain it for me ?I need your answer,and I will keep on watching your blog

  2. Ben Strong July 23, 2011 at 6:57 pm #

    I just read the exact same article from another site, I hope you didn’t steal it. The link is http://www.commissioncrusherx.net

  3. Dwayne Vogler August 1, 2011 at 11:42 pm #

    It’s the little changes that make the biggest changes.

  4. ensurneinsela August 4, 2011 at 9:08 pm #

    Hey i just came here to let you know about a service i offer. I offer cheap backlinks that can help you website rank significantly better on Google. Traffic is everything and to get decent traffic you need to rank well in the search engines. My service can help provide that, check out my site http://hellomotow.net/backlinks

  5. Torrent Ebook August 7, 2011 at 6:26 pm #

    This is great! Where do you find this stuff? http://www.apnatorrents.com/download-the-39-clues-book-9-storm-warning-pdf-torrent.html

  6. Dreamhost coupons August 8, 2011 at 6:44 am #

    A person essentially help to make seriously articles I would state. This is the first time I frequented your website page and thus far? I surprised with the research you made to make this particular publish amazing. Magnificent job!

  7. Gymnviorono August 8, 2011 at 8:17 pm #

    Hi webmaster I want to let you now about Income Hybrid. It’s great software that can earn you thousands per month by exploiting 700 MILLION targeted visitors. I have banked over $4,000 from this within the first two weeks. Take a quick look at this site I promise you wont regreat it. http://www.income-hybrid.net

  8. Gymnviorono August 13, 2011 at 4:37 am #

    Hey did you steal this article because its also posted on this website word of word. http://www.income-hybrid.net

  9. Kasie Bilal August 13, 2011 at 10:55 am #

    Hello Web Admin, I noticed that your On-Page SEO is not that great, for one you do not use all three H tags in your post, also I notice that you are not using bold or italics properly in your SEO optimization. On-Page SEO means more now than ever since the new Google update: Panda. No longer are backlinks and simply pinging or sending out a RSS feed the key to getting Google PageRank or Alexa Rankings, You now NEED On-Page SEO. So what is good On-Page SEO?First your keyword must appear in the title.Then it must appear in the URL.You have to optimize your keyword and make sure that it has a nice keyword density of 3-5% in your article with relevant LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing). Then you should spread all H1,H2,H3 tags in your article.Your Keyword should appear in your first paragraph and in the last sentence of the page. You should have relevant usage of Bold and italics of your keyword.There should be one internal link to a page on your blog and you should have one image with an alt tag that has your keyword….wait there’s even more Now what if i told you there was a simple WordPress plugin that does all the On-Page SEO, and automatically for you? That’s right AUTOMATICALLY, just watch this 4minute video for more information at. WordPress Seo Plugin

  10. google translate August 13, 2011 at 10:25 pm #

    http://www.got.my

  11. Roxanna Barish August 14, 2011 at 5:42 pm #

    Hello Web Admin, I noticed that your On-Page SEO is not that great, for one you do not use all three H tags in your post, also I notice that you are not using bold or italics properly in your SEO optimization. On-Page SEO means more now than ever since the new Google update: Panda. No longer are backlinks and simply pinging or sending out a RSS feed the key to getting Google PageRank or Alexa Rankings, You now NEED On-Page SEO. So what is good On-Page SEO?First your keyword must appear in the title.Then it must appear in the URL.You have to optimize your keyword and make sure that it has a nice keyword density of 3-5% in your article with relevant LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing). Then you should spread all H1,H2,H3 tags in your article.Your Keyword should appear in your first paragraph and in the last sentence of the page. You should have relevant usage of Bold and italics of your keyword.There should be one internal link to a page on your blog and you should have one image with an alt tag that has your keyword….wait there’s even more Now what if i told you there was a simple WordPress plugin that does all the On-Page SEO, and automatically for you? That’s right AUTOMATICALLY, just watch this 4minute video for more information at. WordPress Seo Plugin

  12. Kellee Campanelli August 15, 2011 at 1:37 am #

    Congratulations for posting such a useful weblog. Your weblog is not only informative and also extremely artistic too. There normally are extremely few individuals who can write not so simple articles that creatively. Keep up the great work !!

  13. Georgeann Saumier August 17, 2011 at 3:57 am #

    Hello Web Admin, I noticed that your On-Page SEO is not that great, for one you do not use all three H tags in your post, also I notice that you are not using bold or italics properly in your SEO optimization. On-Page SEO means more now than ever since the new Google update: Panda. No longer are backlinks and simply pinging or sending out a RSS feed the key to getting Google PageRank or Alexa Rankings, You now NEED On-Page SEO. So what is good On-Page SEO?First your keyword must appear in the title.Then it must appear in the URL.You have to optimize your keyword and make sure that it has a nice keyword density of 3-5% in your article with relevant LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing). Then you should spread all H1,H2,H3 tags in your article.Your Keyword should appear in your first paragraph and in the last sentence of the page. You should have relevant usage of Bold and italics of your keyword.There should be one internal link to a page on your blog and you should have one image with an alt tag that has your keyword….wait there’s even more Now what if i told you there was a simple WordPress plugin that does all the On-Page SEO, and automatically for you? That’s right AUTOMATICALLY, just watch this 4minute video for more information at. WordPress Seo Plugin

  14. Rhonda Connors August 19, 2011 at 7:29 am #

    I’m the following to see good quality comments! Hmmm, this site won’t load properly upon my Ipad.

  15. replica pens August 19, 2011 at 8:13 pm #

    A round of applause for your blog.Really thank you!

  16. Canon Camera Reviews August 26, 2011 at 2:25 am #

    Impressive publish! STICK WITH IT!
    Sony Camera Reviews

  17. Vina September 10, 2011 at 9:59 am #

    Articles like this make life so much slimper.

  18. free email marketing September 16, 2011 at 6:53 pm #

    we enjoy what you have posted here. keep up the super writing!

  19. 女子徵信 September 19, 2011 at 2:42 pm #

    I would just like to let ufo know how much I learn from your website Bookmarked book ; be back fast for some more good articles;

  20. bulk email marketing September 21, 2011 at 12:38 am #

    we enjoy what you guys have posted here. keep up the good writing!

  21. email marketing tips September 22, 2011 at 1:06 am #

    Even though this view is rare in today’s world, this is continuing to be something that needs to be remembered. This was a decent read.

  22. Cassondra Muckey September 22, 2011 at 2:09 pm #

    Hello Webmaster, I noticed that http://medicaldevicefreedom.org/2011/06/research-commentary-competitive-bidding-on-durable-medical-equipment/ is ranking pretty low for some keywords, this may be due to the new Google Panda update, or it could be due to a variety of other factors. I’m sure you already know about On-page SEO, where Google cares highly about proper formatting of various H1/H2/H3 tags, having your main keyword appear in the beginning of your post and having your post end with the keyword, along with having keyword related alt tags and very relevant LSI. However, you do not seem to have the proper Keywords or relevant Keywords in your posts and in the website. Right now you need a tool or plugin that will allow you to check on Keyword insights, search trends and check for backlink analysis and to find out your Keyword competition. To find a Keyword Plugin that combines both Keyword Research and has the ability as a Rank Checker is what WordPress Seo Keyword, please check out our 5 minute video.

  23. generic actos September 27, 2011 at 9:30 pm #

    Book internet pharmacy heart disease Mexitil Washington Shipped C,o,d liver disease ing without prescription! Save on Your Medication.Best prices for Belgium no Prescr’sneeded +FREE Tabs changes in hearing Mexitil Cheapest online pharm suicidal thoughts or other mood changes Where to cheap , WorldWide Shipping.Best bu Antibiotics confusion or hallucinations Hyzaar Fda approved mg, Low price, No script
    cheapest buy generic omnicef order online Where to buy, Where to buy buy generic optivar order online without prescription, online europe buy generic order online ordil online, purchase buy generic order online ordil 2 purchase,

  24. Vanda Sias September 28, 2011 at 11:33 am #

    Please let me know if you’re looking for a article writer for your blog. You have some really great posts and I think I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d really like to write some articles for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please send me an e-mail if interested. Cheers!

  25. Veste Moncler September 30, 2011 at 2:21 pm #

    Aw, this is an incredibly good post. Throughout concept I would like to make a note of like that furthermore ?¡ìC taking time and exact effort to make a very good article?- however what things can I really say?- We put things a large amount and certainly possibly not find a way to get something finished.

    • Snow November 5, 2011 at 3:06 am #

      The gienus store called, they’re running out of you.

    • Veruca November 7, 2011 at 5:35 am #

      Thanks for wiirtng such an easy-to-understand article on this topic.

  26. Sac Hermes Birkin 22CM September 30, 2011 at 9:43 pm #

    Appropriate develop that in. have you been concentrated on this particular. can easily an additional specific remember to write about the direction they can experience concerning the following. I see the reasons why you say this level of detail

    • Foge November 5, 2011 at 11:23 am #

      If you’re reading this, you’re all set, parnder!

    • Jase November 7, 2011 at 3:34 am #

      You have shed a ray of snusihne into the forum. Thanks!

  27. Bernarda Lindline October 31, 2011 at 6:26 am #

    I don’t even know the way I stopped up here, however I believed this put up was good. I don’t realize who you are but certainly you’re going to a famous blogger for those who are not already ;) Cheers!

    • Lorene November 5, 2011 at 4:44 pm #

      You really found a way to make this whole process eaiesr.

    • Gildas November 7, 2011 at 2:57 am #

      BION I’m impresesd! Cool post!

  28. Backlinks November 4, 2011 at 7:32 am #

    Best backlinks and website traffic service – we post your custom post up to 100’000 forums worldwide price starting only from $29
    Get incredible online web traffic using amazing backlink blast available. We can post your custom post up to 100’000 forums worldwide, get insane amount of backlinks and incredible targeted web traffic in shortest time. Most affordable and most powerful service for web traffic and backlinks in the world!!!!
    Your post will be published up to 100000 forums worldwide your website or blog will get instant traffic and massive increase in seo rankings just after few days or weeks so your site will get targeted long term traffic from search engines. Order now:
    backlink service

  29. Canada Goose Parka Youth November 19, 2011 at 4:19 pm #

    Now i’m without words. This is often a exceptional weblog and very engaging too. Fantastic art! That’s no longer in fact a whole lot originating from a great novice author much like me, nevertheless it’s all I could merely state after scuba diving into your content. Nice grammar as well as vocabulary. Will no longer just like other sites. A person in reality determine what you?re also discussing as well. Such a great deal which you helped me want to investigate more. The weblog has developed into a stepping-stone for me personally, my buddy.

  30. odśnieżanie dachów gdańsk November 19, 2011 at 10:38 pm #

    whoah this blog is magnificent i love reading your posts. Keep up the great work! You know, a lot of people are looking around for this information, you could help them greatly.

  31. vimax November 22, 2011 at 12:55 am #

    How is it that just anyone can publish a blog and get as popular as this? Its not like youve said anything incredibly impressive more like youve painted a quite picture through an issue that you know nothing about! I dont want to sound mean, right here. But do you genuinely think that you can get away with adding some quite pictures and not truly say something?

  32. Mulberry Bags November 23, 2011 at 2:51 am #

    Hi,I come to your site fairly regularly, and I guess since I like reading your blog.I just wanted to let you know that I linked to your site with a dofollow links so visitors can come to see your blog.You can find the link to your site here: http://www.mulberrybagmulberrybags.com/blog/site-like/.

  33. Rudy Koewler November 28, 2011 at 6:12 pm #

    I was very impressed with http://www.Earn100sADayOnline.info when I saw your site mentioned in the video there.

  34. what is vimax December 1, 2011 at 2:05 am #

    Sick! Just obtained a brand-new Pearl and I can now read your blog on my phone’s browser, it didn’t get the job done on my aged one.

  35. Latricia Ruedy December 1, 2011 at 10:38 pm #

    Scarface passed the torch, it’s time for you to have it: http://instant-weekly-profits.info

  36. vimax December 2, 2011 at 7:03 pm #

    Took me time to read all the comments, but I really enjoyed the write-up. It proved to become Pretty useful to me and I am positive to all the commenters here Its always great when you can not only be informed, but also entertained Im certain you had fun writing this write-up.

  37. gaucho December 3, 2011 at 6:40 am #

    great to find such great blog, I really like it. you are the best

  38. Loyd Bulow December 3, 2011 at 4:59 pm #

    Hey, how are you :) ? I just thought I’d stop by and say hi…I really like this blog! I actually submitted it here: http://www.my100perdaysecrets.info and it made it into the video :D . Cheers!

  39. Damien Lauden December 4, 2011 at 9:39 pm #

    Hello, are you the admin of this site? I simply felt like passing to you a friendly message. I won’t take up more than 3 seconds of your time, it’d be a shame if you missed out on http://www.weekly-income-now.info My husband and I have been making crazy profits so far this month. We aren’t quite up to 1200+ bucks a week but so far I did 800 last week and I’m hoping to reach $1,045 by the end of Sunday. Life’s looking up…so why don’t you take just a few seconds and look it up? I honestly swear that if you’re reading this, it’ll be the greatest thing you’ve come across. Cheers and god bless you, hope to see you on the other side :-) !

  40. Moncler Down Coat December 5, 2011 at 4:00 am #

    Moncler jacket takes all the merits and utility of the techniques into account fully though the different style rules, fabric pattern, colors and different sizes and design more and more Moncler jackets.Moncler Maillol Womens Long Down Quilted Coat Grey

  41. Moncler outlets December 5, 2011 at 5:09 am #

    The jackets can easily match your other clothes.The popularity of moncler coats has been increasing by each year and after getting high level of success in the markets.Moncler Alpes Down Jacket Red

  42. Dallas Buhrke December 5, 2011 at 4:35 pm #

    Jesus!…..have you seen this? Wooooow I’m killing it my friend, and it goes PERFECTLY with your blog: http://www.Earn100sADayOnline.info

  43. backlinks service December 8, 2011 at 7:06 pm #

    Get up to 100000 forum backlinks with our xrumer blast & massive traffic
    Get incredible online web traffic using amazing xrumer service today. We are able post your marketing message up to 100K forums worldwide, get insane amount of backlinks and incredible online web traffic in very short time. Most affordable and most powerful service for web traffic and backlinks in the world!!!!
    Your post will be published up to 100000 forums worldwide your website will get insatnt traffic and massive increase in seo rankings just after few days or weeks. Order now:
    backlink service

  44. canada goose parka December 10, 2011 at 10:58 am #

    You happen to be therefore neat! I really never guess Ive find out whatever in this way before. So excellent to discover anybody with a bit of authentic single dads this particular subject matter. realy appreciation for starting that right up. this website is a thing that is definitely needed on the internet, any person together with somewhat appearance. handy problem for providing one thing not used to online!

  45. Piumino moncler December 12, 2011 at 8:23 am #

    Yesterday evening, because i appeared to be on the job, this step-brother took the ipad tablet as well as tried to see if it may possibly make it through a good 40 dollars foot shed, just so she could often be a youtube discomfort. My personal apple ipad tablet currently is destroyed and he or she has 83 landscapes. I’m sure it is thoroughly away from theme but I were required to present it all along with somebody!

  46. card processing December 14, 2011 at 3:34 pm #

    I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was great. I do not know who you are but certainly you are going to a famous blogger if you aren’t already ;) Cheers!

  47. Sylvester Lohrenz December 19, 2011 at 10:26 am #

    I always visit different blog site every day and i determined your site.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Alexander6 - July 16, 2011

    buy@generic.VIAGRA” rel=”nofollow”>…

    Need cheap generic VIAGRA?…

  2. Alexander7 - July 23, 2011

    buy@generic.LEVITRA” rel=”nofollow”>…

    Need cheap generic LEVITRA?…

  3. 2011 Casque Monster Beats Studio - September 16, 2011

    Recommeneded websites…

    [...]Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitors[...]……

Leave a Reply