The house today voted to override Bush’s veto of the Medicare bill which contained a postponement of national competitive bidding. If the Senate follows their previous vote DME providers will get an 18-24 month reprieve. I hasten to point out that accreditation is affected only for those in the 70 MSA who were required to apply by July 21st and get accredited by January of 2009. The final date of September 30, 2009 is still in place and any new providers will require accreditation before they can get a supplier number.
In general everyone I talk to has accepted accreditation as a necessary and reasonable requirement for DME providers. The two major short terms benefits will be driving the bad actors out of business as well as the very small providers who were basically dabbling in DME as a side line of business. This could result in as many as 40,000 fewer supplier numbers in the industry which should be beneficial to the survivors.
I will write next on the potential impact of accreditation on a provider and the beneficial aspects of accreditation above and beyond getting to keep your supplier number.
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