B-311423; B-311423.2; B-311423.3; B-311423.4; B-311423.5, Eastern Medical Equipment, Inc.; Omnicare, Inc.; Dania Medical Equipment & Supplies, Inc.; Chronic Care Pharmaceutical Services, LLC; Wound Management Technologies, Inc., May 1, 2008

B-311423; B-311423.2; B-311423.3; B-311423.4; B-311423.5, Eastern Medical Equipment, Inc.; Omnicare, Inc.; Dania Medical Equipment & Supplies, Inc.; Chronic Care Pharmaceutical Services, LLC; Wound Management Technologies, Inc., May 1, 2008 TITLE: B-311423; B-311423.2; B-311423.3; B-311423.4; B-311423.5, Eastern Medical Equipment, Inc.; Omnicare, Inc.; Dania Medical Equipment & Supplies, Inc.; Chronic Care Pharmaceutical Services, LLC; Wound Management Technologies, Inc., May 1, 2008 BNUMBER: B-311423; B-311423.2; B-311423.3; B-311423.4; B-311423.5 DATE: May 1, 2008 ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************ B-311423; B-311423.2; B-311423.3; B-311423.4; B-311423.5, Eastern Medical Equipment, Inc.; Omnicare, Inc.; Dania Medical Equipment & Supplies, Inc.; Chronic Care Pharmaceutical Services, LLC; Wound Management Technologies, Inc., May 1, 2008 Decision Matter of: Eastern Medical Equipment, Inc.; Omnicare, Inc.; Dania Medical Equipment & Supplies, Inc.; Chronic Care Pharmaceutical Services, LLC; Wound Management Technologies, Inc. File: B-311423; B-311423.2; B-311423.3; B-311423.4; B-311423.5 Date: May 1, 2008 Jim Marco for Eastern Medical Equipment, Inc.; Robert J. Hill, Esq., Reed Smith LLP, for Omnicare, Inc.; Lawrence R. Metsch, Esq., The Metsch Law Firm, P.A., for Dania Medical Equipment & Supplies, Inc., Chronic Care Pharmaceutical Services, LLC, and Wound Management Technologies, Inc., the protesters. Jamie B. Insley, Esq., Department of Health and Human Services, for the agency. Peter D. Verchinski, Esq., and John M. Melody, Esq., Office of General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Pursuant to title 18 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. sections 1395-1395hhh), Government Accountability Office lacks jurisdiction over protests of awards made by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services under the agency's Competitive Acquisition Program. DECISION Eastern Medical Equipment, Inc.; Omnicare, Inc.; Dania Medical Equipment & Supplies, Inc.; Chronic Care Pharmaceutical Services, LLC; and Wound Management Technologies, Inc. protest the rejection of their bids submitted in response to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), competitive bidding program for certain Medicare Part B covered items. The protesters assert that CMS improperly determined that the firms failed to submit all required financial documentation with their bids. We dismiss the protest. The national Medicare program is administered by CMS, an agency within HHS, and governed by title 18 of the Social Security Act (codified at 42 U.S.C. sections 1395-1395hhh). Section 1847 of title 18 (42 U.S.C. sect. 1395w-3) establishes the Competitive Acquisition Programs (CAP) for the procurement of certain items and services, including durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS). In the procurements at issue here, CMS solicited bids under the DMEPOS CAP for a number of categories of items to be provided to Medicare beneficiaries. These bids were submitted under the first round of procurements conducted under CAP, covering 10 metropolitan areas. After submitting their bids, the protesters were subsequently notified that the bids had been rejected for failing to include certain financial information. The protesters then filed these protests with our Office, asserting that the rejections were improper because the firms had in fact submitted the information. The agency argues that our Office is precluded by title 18 of the Social Security Act from reviewing the protests. We agree. In addition to establishing the CAP, section 1847 of title 18 includes a provision addressing administrative or judicial review of the agency's actions. In this regard, section 1847(b)(10) states as follows: There shall be no administrative or judicial review under section 1869, section 1878, or otherwise, of...(B) the awarding of contracts under this section. See 42 U.S.C. sect. 1395w-3(b)(10). The starting point of any analysis of the meaning of a statutory provision is the statutory language used by Congress. See Consumer Prod. Safety Comm'n v. GTE Sylvania, Inc., 447 U.S.