DRA of 2022

DMEPOS Relief Act of 2022 or the DRA of 2022

This bill increases payment adjustments for certain items that were included in Round 2021 of the Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program but for which contracts were not executed. The bill applies to items that are furnished between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2023, and that were not subject to the unadjusted fee schedule amount as of January 1, 2021.

Under the DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) sets payment for certain durable medical equipment under Medicare based on a competitive bidding process with suppliers, rather than the fee schedule amount. The CMS included 16 product categories in Round 2021 of the program but ultimately did not award contracts for 13 of these categories (that were also in previous rounds) as the resulting payment amounts did not achieve expected savings.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6641 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6641

  To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide for 
 certain adjustments to Medicare payment for items of durable medical 
   equipment that were formerly included in round 2021 of the DMEPOS 
                      competitive bidding program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 8, 2022

 Mr. Mullin (for himself, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Ms. Sewell, Mr. 
 Keller, Mr. Reed, and Mr. Mrvan) introduced the following bill; which 
 was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition 
  to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide for 
 certain adjustments to Medicare payment for items of durable medical 
   equipment that were formerly included in round 2021 of the DMEPOS 
                      competitive bidding program.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``DMEPOS Relief Act of 2022'' or the 
``DRA of 2022''.

SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENTS TO MEDICARE PAYMENT FOR ITEMS OF DURABLE MEDICAL 
              EQUIPMENT FORMERLY INCLUDED IN ROUND 2021 OF THE DMEPOS 
              COMPETITIVE BIDDING PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
implement section 414.210 of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations, 
such that the fee schedule amounts determined pursuant to such section 
for covered items furnished during the period beginning on January 1, 
2022, and ending on December 31, 2023, shall be applied as if the 
transition rules under paragraph (g)(9) of such section provided that 
for such covered items so furnished, the fee schedule amount for the 
area involved is equal to 90 percent of the adjusted payment amount 
established under such section and 10 percent of the unadjusted fee 
schedule amount established under such section.
    (b) Covered Item Defined.--For purposes of subsection (a), the term 
``covered item'' means any item--
            (1) that were competed under the Round 2021 DMEPOS 
        Competitive Bidding Program;
            (2) for which contracts were not executed for such round of 
        bidding; and
            (3) which did not, as of January 1, 2021, revert to the 
        unadjusted fee schedule amount established under section 
        414.210 of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations.
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