Medicare beneficiaries may have difficulty keeping track of their coinsurance amounts, "and they may not be inclined to pay a vendor with whom they only have an impersonal business relationship," Mr. Melville cautioned.
The trade group did not comment directly upon the competitive acquisition program.
The interim rule creating the new program took effect in June, although CMS will be seeking additional comments until Sept. 6. The agency plans to receive bids from vendors later this summer and award contracts in early fall, in anticipation of starting the program in 2006.
For more information about the competitive acquisition program, go to www.cms.hhs.gov/providers/drugs/compbid