Bidders in the Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program (CBP) must upload required financial documentation in Connexion, the DMEPOS CBP’s secure portal, as specified in the Request for Bids (RFB) Instructions.
Background
Section 1847 of the Social Security Act establishes the process for evaluating the timeliness of a bidder's submission of covered documents and notifying the bidder if one or more covered documents are missing. If at least one of the covered documents is submitted on a timely basis, this process gives bidders the opportunity to be notified of any missing required financial documents and additional time to provide the missing financial documents.
Round 2028
For Round 2028, you must submit a business credit report with a numerical credit score or rating. Your credit bureau may provide these as multiple pages, or as two separate documents. Either way, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) treats the credit report and the numerical score or rating as two separate requirements, even if your credit bureau combines them into one document.
If your business hasn't operated long enough to have a credit score, follow the special instructions for new businesses instead.
See the Financial Standard Reporting fact sheet for more information.
For Round 2028, references to “covered documents” and “financial documents” refer to the required credit report with a numerical score or rating.
Please note: A bid surety bond is not a covered document as outlined in 42 CFR § 414.402 and is therefore not included in the covered document review process.
Covered Document Review Date (CDRD)
The covered document review date (CDRD) is the latter of:
- The date that is 30 days before the final date for the closing of the bid window, or
- The date that is 30 days after the opening of the bid window.
For Round 2028, the CDRD is February 8, 2027.
A countdown clock to the CDRD will be posted on the Competitive Bidding Implementation Contractor (CBIC) website.
Bidders that upload their required financial documents in Connexion by the CDRD will be included in the covered document review process.
If You Upload Documents by the CDRD
At the end of the bid window, CMS will evaluate whether you have submitted all the required covered documents.
You will be notified within 90 days after the CDRD of:
- Which required financial documents, if any, are missing.
- The deadline by which all missing documents must be uploaded in Connexion.
You will have 10 business days from the notification to submit the missing covered document(s).
This review only checks whether required financial documents are missing. It does not evaluate whether the documents are accurate, acceptable, complete, or in accordance with the RFB Instructions.
If You Do Not Upload Documents by the CDRD
Bidders that do not upload their required financial documents in Connexion by the CDRD will:
- Not be included in the covered document review process.
- Not receive notification of any missing documents.
All bidders participating in Round 2028 are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the covered document review process by uploading their credit report with numerical score or rating by the CDRD.
Important Limitations of the Review Process
The covered document review process:
- Only allows bidders that have been notified of missing documents to upload those specific missing documents.
- Does not allow bidders to upload revised versions of previously submitted documents after the bid window closes.
- Does not allow bidders to change bidding amounts or make other changes to a bid submission.
Once the bid window closes, all bids are considered final and cannot be changed or amended.
Confirming Your Document Uploads
Documents are not considered submitted until they have been uploaded in Connexion. After each upload, Connexion will display a message confirming whether the upload was successful or it failed.
- If your upload failed, please try uploading the document again following the instructions in Connexion.
- If problems continue or you have any questions, please contact the CBIC Customer Service Center for assistance.
During the bid window, visit your My Upload History page in Connexion to confirm that your required documents have been received. This page shows details for all documents uploaded in Connexion. Please note that it does not confirm the accuracy or completeness of your documents.