Its official - CMS (Medicare - Medicaid) have gone public with a website to provide further information on National Competitive Bidding (NCB).

This is yet another indication that NCB is coming sooner rather than later.

Of particular interest is this statement “CMS has not set a deadline for DMEPOS suppliers to become accredited in order to retain/obtain a supplier enrollment number or to competitively bid”…

Here is the site:

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/competitiveacqfordmepos/

Here is a related site providing further detailed information on implementation. (Work in progress).

http://www.dmecompetitivebid.com/

(For non US companies this provides useful insights into the US market - It is worthwhile clicking on the links).

New RAMP report and Invacare, Respironics and Apria announce latest quarter earnings:

A new RAMP report has just been issued by the Power Wheelchair Industry:

Here’s the headline:

Government Data Refutes CMS Claims that Utilization of Mobility Benefit Is on the Rise - Utilization Sharply Declined Since 2003; No Support for CMS Claims of Increases.

Basically the industry is saying that CMS (Medicare) has got the numbers all wrong in terms of the growth in numbers of powered products over the years. Industry contends that the increases were in the years leading up to 2003 due to technology advances while also admitting that there were some provider organizations that had been involved in some fraudulent activity.

Full report here

Invacare announced their earnings today and while EPS had grown sequentially from prior quarter (excluding one time events), profits were down from prior year and the firm was guiding lower largely due to reimbursement insecurities (see above). The stock closed 5.3% down at 22.53. Full release here.

Respironics saw profits rise based on domestic sleep products and international revenues however they missed analysts expectations. They also guided revenues lower. The stocked took a hit and closed more than 7% down at 35.69. Full release here:

Apria said today that its earnings were flat (beating analyst estimates), and Q3 revenues were up 4%. Apria affirmed guidance but acknowledged that Medicare reimbursement cuts would affect margins. The stock closed up over 5% at 22.04.

Did you notice that both Invacare and Respironics reported positively on International?