(a) General rule. CMS establishes a single payment amount for each item furnished under a competitive bidding program.

(b) Methodology for setting payment amount.

(1) The single payment amount for a lead item furnished under a competitive bidding program is equal to the maximum bid submitted for that item by suppliers whose composite bids for the product category that includes the item are equal to or below the pivotal bid for that product category.

(2) The single payment amount for a lead item must be less than or equal to the amount that would otherwise be paid for the same item under subpart C or subpart D of this part.

(3) The single payment amount for an item in a product category furnished under a competitive bidding program that is not a lead item for that product category is equal to the single payment amount for the lead item in the same product category multiplied by the ratio of the average of the 2015 fee schedule amounts for all areas (that is, all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands), for the item to the average of the 2015 fee schedule amounts for all areas for the lead item.

[72 FR 18085, Apr. 10, 2007, as amended at 81 FR 77967, Nov. 4, 2016; 83 FR 57072, Nov. 14, 2018]