Round 2028 DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Resources
Prepare for Round 2028 Competitive Bidding
CMS has launched Phase 1: Bid Preparation for the Round 2028 DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program, making this the time for suppliers to begin evaluating their bidding strategy. This page brings together the latest CMS resources, educational tools, and association-developed calculators to help suppliers better understand the bidding process, evaluate financial implications, and prepare informed bids. Whether you're reviewing CMS guidance or analyzing different bid scenarios, these resources are designed to support your planning every step of the way.
CMS Competitive Bidding Resources
Stay up to date with the latest information released by CMS and the Competitive Bidding Implementation Contractor (CBIC), including official guidance, timelines, bidding instructions, and educational materials for Round 2028.
Resources include:
- CBIC Bid Preparation Resources
- Bid Preparation Timeline
- Product Catagories
- CMS Fact Sheets
- CMS Lead Item Pricing Calculator
New for Round 2028: CMS has, for the first time, released the list of non-lead items and their ratios to lead items. These data are incorporated into both the CMS and association bid calculators to help suppliers more accurately evaluate bidding scenarios.
AAHomecare Bid Calculators
Evaluate Your Bidding Strategy
Our bid calculators are designed to help suppliers better understand the financial implications of different bidding scenarios and make more informed business decisions during the bid preparation process.
Built upon the CMS calculators, the association's tools are in Excel format and include additional features to provide greater insight, including:
- Bid limit safeguards that prevent entries above the CMS-established bid limit.
- Identification of the highest-volume non-lead HCPCS codes based on annual Medicare allowed amounts.
- Cost analysis fields that allow suppliers to estimate profitability under different bid scenarios.
- Analysis of potential downstream impacts on Medicaid and other payer reimbursement when payment rates are tied to Medicare.
Important: These calculators are intended to illustrate the potential impact of the bid amount entered by the user. They do not predict whether a bid will be selected or what the final single payment amount will be. For Round 2028, CMS will be setting the payment amounts based on the 75th percentile of winning bids, and therefore the final payment amounts would depend on the bids submitted by all winning suppliers.
Dowload the Product Catagory Bidding Calculator in Excel format here:
AAHomecare Competitive Bidding Webinars
AAHomecare will be hosting a competitive bidding educational webinar along with three sessions on the calculators. If this is your first time using the calculators, we highly recommend joining the AAHomecare staff in the tutorials.
- Competitive Bidding Essentials, July 29 at 1pm ET
- Bid Calculator Deep Dive:
We also offer the following downloadable webinars to understand the bid process and an overview of the Final Rule competitive bidding changes:
Understanding the Bid Process
Presented by Kim Brummett of AAHomecare, Jeff Baird, and Cara Bachenheimer of Brown & Fortunato
Learn what it takes to successfully participate in the next round of the Medicare Competitive Bidding Program. This session covers bid submission requirements, bid bonds, financial documentation, licensure, commonly owned companies, and how CMS evaluates bids and awards contracts. Originally presented in March 2026.
Learning Objectives:
- Basic prerequisites
- Bid bonds
- Financial document requirements
- Licensure requirements
- The bid evaluation process
- The contract selection process
Complimentary to the HME Industry
Overview of the Final Rule Competitive Bidding Changes
Presented by Cara Bachenheimer of Brown & Fortunato, and Wayne van Halem of The van Halem Group
Learn what the restructured Medicare Competitive Bidding Program means for DME suppliers. This session reviews the major changes finalized by CMS for the next bidding round, including new product categories, the focus on national remote item delivery (RID) items, and other significant program updates. It also discusses strategies for navigating the program and what suppliers can expect moving forward. Originally presented in March 2026.
Learning Objectives:
- Lead item bidding
- Contract awards
- Bid ceiling
- Capacity and demand
- CGM/Insulin Pumps
- Medical supplies inclusion
- RID CBPs
Complimentary to the HME Industry