Discussion 1 Week 4 Competitive Bidding and Long-Term Cost Savings - Assignment Example

Competitive Bidding and Long-Term Cost Savings: Discussion Week 4 al Affiliation Competitive Bidding and Long-Term Cost Savings: Discussion 1 Week 41. From the e-Activity, take a position on whether competitive bidding provides long-term cost savings when Medicare patients are being limited to the use of the lowest bidders for durable medical equipment. Support your position. Competitive bidding provides long-term cost savings when Medicare patients are being limited to the use of the lowest bidders for durable medical equipment (DME) (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2011).

From the article, it was deduced that through the competitive bidding program (CBP), “suppliers submit bid prices in the amounts they are willing to accept as payment to provide DME items to Medicare beneficiaries. CMS then enters into contracts with select DME suppliers to provide DME items at the prices determined by CBP… CBP also provides an incentive for DME suppliers to accept lower Medicare payment amounts in exchange for the ability to serve beneficiaries and to potentially increase their Medicare market share” (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2011, p. 2). As such, it is the best interests of Medicare patients that prices are set through CBP to ensure that they are provided with the least cost of DME.2. Elaborate on whether or not competitive bidding will remain a viable alternative when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is fully implemented in 2014.

Support your position. Competitive bidding was revealed to remain a crucial part of the health reform program, particularly Medicare reform (Feldman, Dowd, & Coulam, 2013). As emphasized, “competitive bidding will save a substantial amount of money, the exact amount depending on the bidding rules ultimately selected and any transition rules adopted to moderate the pace of change for beneficiaries” (Feldman, Dowd, & Coulam, 2013, p. 20). As such, due to the cost efficiency and potential savings to be generated from competitive bidding, it will remain a viable alternative when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is fully implemented in 2014.

Discuss defining factors regarding the competitive bidding process and its survival or failure in the healthcare arena if Universal Health Care is implemented in 2014.The defining factors regarding the competitive bidding process include the price, which is considered the primary factor (Universal Service Administrative Company, 2014); as well as reliability, technical support, bandwidth, and quality of transmission (Universal Service Administrative Company, 2014). Thus, the survival or failure of the bidding organization would depend on their ability to provide the needed goods, products, or services, in the most cost-effective and reliable manner within the stipulated time frame.

ReferencesFeldman, R., Dowd, B., & Coulam, R. (2013, April). A Competitive Bidding Approach to Medicare Reform. Retrieved from American Enterprise Institute: www.aei.org/./-a-competitive-bidding-approach-to-medicare-reform_1.U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2011, May 31). Medicare: Issues for Manufacturer-Level Competitive Bidding for Durable Medical Equipment. Retrieved from gao.gov: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11337r.pdfUniversal Service Administrative Company. (2014). Step 3: Prepare for Competitive Bidding.

Retrieved from usac.org: http://www.usac.org/rhc/healthcare-connect/individual/step03/default.aspx