Cramton appeals to Obama on Medicare auction design

HomeCare, a website for suppliers of medical equipment reports:
Cramton Calls for Presidential Action on Competitive Bidding

"In what one stakeholder termed "the strongest case yet" against competitive bidding, economist Peter Cramton wrote a letter to President Barack Obama underscoring the fatal flaws in CMS' bidding design and asking for presidential involvement in getting the program redrawn. The letter, sent Friday, was signed by 244 auction design experts.

"Given the disregard by [the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] of the market design recommendations received from recognized experts, we call upon the executive branch to direct CMS to proceed otherwise," read the letter, which was copied to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and the President's Council of Economic Advisors.

"We also ask that you consider supporting new legislation that requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct efficient Medicare auctions, consistent with the best practice and the best science," the letter added.

The letter is the latest volley in Cramton's battle to get CMS to address the major defects in its competitive bidding design. Those efforts began in September, when Cramton, an economics professor at the University of Maryland, sent a letter signed by 166 other renowned auction experts to Congress detailing the program's deficiencies and calling for its implementation to be halted.

CMS brushed aside concerns expressed by members of Congress, implementing the program — as designed — in January in nine competitive bidding areas across the country. Cramton and the scores of other economists continued their crusade, holding meetings with powerbrokers, congressional briefings and a mock auction attended by home medical equipment providers, economists and even some CMS officials."

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And here's the letter.