The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the names of the 325 suppliers that have signed contracts with Medicare to provide certain medical equipment and supplies to beneficiaries in 10 communities across the U.S. at significantly lower prices than they are paying now.

"We are pleased that Medicare beneficiaries living in the 10 first round communities will continue to receive high quality service and supplies from the suppliers participating in Medicare's competitive bidding program," said CMS Acting Administrator Kerry Weems. "All of these contract suppliers have met our stringent standards, so beneficiaries can be assured they receive their equipment and supplies from legitimate suppliers."

The new competitive bidding program goes into effect on July 1, 2008, in 10 communities. This program uses the local, competitive marketplace to lower the costs for certain durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS) for Medicare beneficiaries who use Medicare-contracted suppliers to obtain medical items and supplies. Because beneficiaries pay 20 percent coinsurance on the cost of DMEPOS, they will directly benefit from the savings.
Based on bids submitted by these suppliers, beneficiaries and Medicare will see prices, on average, 26 percent lower than Medicare currently pays for the same items. CMS received bids from 1,005 suppliers. There were just under 6,200 bids for one or more product categories in competitive bidding areas (CBAs)where the new program is being implemented. CMS offered contracts to 23 percent of suppliers that submitted bids. These suppliers were in the winning price range and met quality and financial standards and disclosure requirements.

Sixty-one percent of the bids submitted were priced higher than the winning range, and just over half of these high-priced submissions were disqualified because they failed to meet other bid requirements. The remaining 16 percent of bids would have been in the winning range had they not been disqualified.

To participate in the competitive bidding program, suppliers are now required to meet Medicare's quality and financial standards that ensure participating suppliers are viable companies able to meet the needs of Medicare beneficiaries and the terms of their contracts with Medicare. In addition to those requirements, which were developed with input from suppliers, a Medicare-contracted supplier must:

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