With little more than a month before the July 1, 2008 start of competitive bidding, CMS released two tip sheets this week—one for referral agents and one for grandfathered suppliers. Both documents attempt to answer and clarify several points of concern among round one participants.

A press release publicizing the sheet for referral agents advises that “Medicare patients in the 10 CBAs who use oxygen will need to take action to either transition to a new contract supplier, or, in the case where their current oxygen supplier elects to become a grandfathered supplier, continue services with their current non-contract supplier.”

Additional questions covered include:
• How does a referral agent assist the beneficiary in locating a contract supplier?
• Can the referral agent prescribe any brand or mode of delivery for a DMEPOS item?
• Can a contract supplier provide an item different from that specified in the written prescription received from the beneficiary’s referral agent?
• Can a beneficiary obtain a competitively bid item from a non-contract supplier in a CBA?
• If a beneficiary resides in a CBA, from whom can they purchase diabetic testing supplies?
• Can a beneficiary-owned competitively bid item be repaired and/or replaced by any supplier under the new program?
To access the complete, two-page referral agent tip sheet, click here.

The new tip sheet for grandfathered suppliers answers the questions:
• What is a grandfathered supplier?
• Who is eligible to be a grandfathered supplier?
• What actions are required of the grandfathered supplier?
• What actions are required of the beneficiary who chooses to continue service from a grandfathered supplier?
• What rules apply to non-contract suppliers that elect not to be grandfathered suppliers?
• What Are the Special Payment and Billing Rules for Grandfathered Suppliers?
To access the complete three-page grandfathering tip sheet, click here.