Stomagienics CEO Criticizes Medicare Ostomy Supply Bidding Plan
In a commentary published ahead of Ostomy Awareness Day, Theresa Johnson, CEO of South Carolina-based Stomagienics, argues that CMS's plan to apply competitive bidding to ostomy supplies will harm patients. She writes that beginning January 1, 2028, CMS will award contracts to just six suppliers nationwide, which she argues will reduce access to the specific, properly-fitting products beneficiaries need, since ostomy products are not interchangeable commodities. Johnson cites United Ostomy Associations of America estimates that 13,200 South Carolinians live with an ostomy, including 8,580 Medicare beneficiaries, and warns that a dozen South Carolina supply companies could be forced to reduce or eliminate ostomy offerings. She contends that lowering product costs through bidding risks raising overall care costs through leakage, skin damage, infections, and hospitalizations, and urges Congress to weigh real-world patient outcomes rather than price alone.