Access to Medical Supplies Act Introduced
Access to Medical Supplies Act Introduced
Bipartisan Bill Would Pause Medicare Competitive Bidding for Ostomy and Urological Supplies giving CMS, the DMEPOS industry, and consumer groups five years to assess whether these products are appropriate for bidding and how to protect patient access
Arlington, Va. — [October 9], — Reps. Greg Murphy, M.D. (R-NC) and Brad Schneider (D-IL) introduced the Access to Medical Supplies Act, bipartisan legislation that would pause the inclusion of ostomy and urological supplies in the Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program for five years. The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) welcomes the introduction of this bill and thanks Reps. Murphy and Schnieder for their leadership on this issue.
“Before CMS enacts a program that reshapes how patients receive highly personalized medical supplies, it should understand exactly what is at stake,” said Tom Ryan, President and CEO of AAHomecare. “Reps. Murphy and Schneider's bipartisan bill allows CMS to study the impact, test it, and hear from patients and providers before making changes that could disrupt access across the country. We urge every member of Congress to support this bill and protect patient access.”
The pause would give the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), with input from stakeholders, time to fully analyze how the change would affect patients. The bill also creates a technical expert panel to study the impact of adding these supplies to the program and a demonstration project to test the effects before CMS makes a final decision.
In its DMEPOS/Home Health final rule, CMS created a national Remote Item Delivery (RID) Competitive Bidding Program, establishing a single nationwide competition rather than separate competitions across geographic areas. CMS has named ostomy and urological supplies among the RID product categories for the next bidding round, set to take effect in January 2028.
AAHomecare has met with CMS and White House officials to warn that inclusion of these supplies in a national RID program could harm patient access to medically necessary supplies. Today's bill is the next step, buying CMS the time to get this right.
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