Local Family Owned Company Awarded Contract to Supply Durable Medical Equipment to Medicare Beneficiaries


As many other DME providers spend time and money trying to delay or halt the process, Colonial Medical Supplies has put all of their focus on making health care professionals and most important, Medicare Beneficiaries aware of the drastic changes that this program will create.

As a winner of eight of the ten categories, which include Oxygen, Walkers, Beds, Enteral Nutrition, scooters and power wheelchairs, complex rehab, CPAP and BiPAP, the local company, established in 1957, realizes the importance of awareness.
“Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the program at this point, it is moving forward” says General Manager David Bruinsma. “Colonial Medical Supplies understands that as one of the few suppliers who have been awarded contracts in most of the categories, it is our responsibility to anticipate the problems and work to rectify them. We have an obligation to the community to ensure that these Medicare Beneficiaries receive the services they need.

The congressionally mandated competitive bidding program, set to begin on July 1, 2008,  was designed by CMS to reduce spending on medical equipment and serves as a large step to fight fraud in the industry. The program reduces the number of suppliers in the Orlando market who are eligible to supply certain equipment by about 75%.

In an effort to derail the first round of competitive bidding, Reps. Fortney “Pete” Stark, D-Calif., and Dave Camp, R-Mich., introduced H.R. 6252 on June 12, 2008,  which called for an 18-month delay of round one. Although this actions gives hope to non bid winners, it does not guarantee the delay. If the bill does not pass, what it will succeed in doing is creating even more of a rocky transition for Medicare Beneficiaries to contracted providers. At this point, CMS has continued forward with its preparations by sending a Mailer to each beneficiary explaining the bid and including the list of contracted suppliers in each msa.

Based on Beneficiary feedback, non bid winners are procrastinating in transferring their clients to contracted suppliers in the hope that H.R 6252 will pass. Rather than working to ensure their clients are properly transferred to contracted suppliers, they are giving Beneficiaries misguided information to stall the transfer of services.

Although these actions may be understandable, and in many cases a last ditch effort to save smaller businesses, it is very important that suppliers realize that if the bill does not pass, it is their responsibility to make sure these Beneficiaries are not forgotten, and continue to receive the services they need.

Colonial Medical Supplies will push forward with the bid until CMS states differently. At this point, either way it falls the situation has the potential to drastically interrupt the services Beneficiaries receive. It is imperative that health care professionals are well informed as to the state of the industry so they can assist in getting their patient’s the care they require, and prevent a potentially devastating medical outcome due to an interruption in service.

For decades Colonial Medical Supplies has been a “one stop shop” for medical supplies in the Orlando and surrounding areas. In addition to being one of the few to win multiple contracts, they are also one of the few providers who have years of experience providing all of the equipment in each category.

For more information on The DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program, or to receive an informational brochure on the bid areas and categories, please contact Colonial Medical Supplies or Visit www.colonialmed.com.