Are the new Medicare DMEPOS supplier accreditation and surety bond requirements related to the Medicare DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program?
The DMEPOS supplier accreditation/surety bond requirements are distinct from (but still related to) the DMEPOS competitive bidding program; distinct in that the accreditation/surety bond requirements are national in scope and affect all DMEPOS items, with some limited exceptions, starting October 1, 2009, while the competitive bidding program affects only nine areas of the country and nine DMEPOS product categories starting on January 1, 2011. The accreditation/surety bond requirements and competitive bidding are related in that a DMEPOS supplier who wants to submit a bid this fall in any of the nine competitive bidding areas must be accredited and obtain a surety bond in order to do so. The competitive bidding window for supplier bids is tentatively set for October 21, 2009 to December 21, 2009.
