Section 303 (d) of the Medicare Modernization Act (see Downloads section below) requires the implementation of a competitive acquisition program (CAP) for Medicare Part B drugs and biologicals not paid on a cost or prospective payment system basis. The CAP is an alternative to the ASP (buy and bill) methodology for acquiring certain Part B drugs which are administered incident to a physician's services.
competitive
The Federal Government consists of three types of services, the Competitive Service, the Excepted Service, and the Senior Executive Service. The competitive service consists of all civil service positions in the executive branch of the Federal Government with some exceptions. The exceptions are defined in section 2102 of title 5, United States Code (5 U.S.C. 2102)
In the competitive service, individual must go through a competitive process (i.e. competitive examining) which is open to all applicants. This process may consist of a written test, an evaluation of the individual's education and experience, and/or an evaluation of other attributes necessary for successful performance in the position to be filled.
Appointments to the Excepted Service are civil service appointments within the Federal Government that do not confer competitive status. There are a number of ways to be appointed to the excepted service such as appointed under an authority defined by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) as excepted (e.g. Veterans Recruitment Appointment) or being appointed to a position defined by OPM as excepted (e.g. Attorneys) More information can be found about the excepted service in 5 U.S.C. 2103 and parts 213 and 302 of title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Temporary appointments are defined as appointments expected to last for a specified period not to exceed 1 year (Temporary Appointment - Time limited not to exceed 1 year but could be less) or a specified period of time that is at least more than 1-year but not to exceed 4 years (Term Appointment - Time limited more than one year but not more than 4 years). Neither type of appointment is a permanent one, so they do not give the employee competitive/permanent status.
Appointments made by agencies are subject to civil service laws and regulations. This webpage contains the regulatory guidance for hiring job applicants under the competitive examining and hiring process. This regulatory guidance is to ensure fair and open competition, recruitment from all segments of society, and selection on the basis of the applicants' competencies/knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Competitive examining is the traditional method for making appointments to competitive service positions and requires adherence to title 5's competitive examining requirements. OPM may delegate authority, by agreement, to an agency to examine for all of its competitive service positions (except administrative law judges). Vacancies filled through the competitive examining process are open to the public.
Several Governmentwide appointing authorities, listed below, permit or require agencies to noncompetitively convert employees to career or career-conditional appointments from excepted service or temporary appointments. In addition, some agencies may have their own conversion authority(ies) based on specific provisions of law.
Under Rule 6.7, OPM and an agency having an established merit system in the excepted service may enter into an agreement prescribing conditions under which employees may be moved from the agency's system to the competitive service. OPM has agreements with:
An agency may noncompetitively appoint an employee covered by an interchange agreement to a career or career-conditional appointment subject to the conditions listed below. Each interchange agreement specifies these conditions. The conditions do not appear in the Code of Federal Regulations. Individuals who do not meet the requirements for appointment under the interchange agreement may apply for a position under competitive examining or other appointment procedures, provided the individual satisfies all applicable eligibility requirements.
A person who previously met this requirement, separated, and later returned to an appointment without time limit, is considered as having met this requirement, regardless of length of service under the current appointment. (See paragraph on type of appointment received when appointed to a competitive service position.)
A person must be appointed to the competitive service without a break in service of 1 workday, except that a person may be appointed within 1 year after being involuntarily separated from the other merit system. The qualification standards (including internal placement provisions, subject to 5 CFR Part 335) and requirements, appointing documents, and determinations for these appointees are the same as for transfer of employees within the competitive service.
Eligible persons may be considered for appointment to positions in the same manner that other individuals are considered for noncompetitive appointment. The appointments are not subject to the merit promotion provisions of 5 CFR Part 335 unless required by agency policy.
Persons appointed to competitive positions under the interchange agreements will receive career or career-conditional appointments, depending on whether they meet the 3-year service requirement for career tenure or are exempt from it under 5 CFR 315.201(c). Service that begins with a person's current permanent appointment in the other merit system counts toward the 3-year service requirement for career tenure. Interchange agreements do not authorize temporary or term appointments.
(c) Meet the qualification standard and other requirements governing appointment to the competitive service, except the individual is not required to compete in a competitive examination, or under internal merit staffing procedures unless an agency's policies require the individual to do so; and
(d) Be appointed to the competitive service within 3 years of separation from a Foreign Service career-type appointment, but the time limit does not apply to an individual entitled to veterans' preference or one who has completed 3 years of substantially continuous service under one or more nontemporary Foreign Service appointments immediately before separation from an unlimited, career-type appointment. [To compute the 3 years of service, apply the rules on breaks in service and leave without pay contained in 5 CFR 315.201(b).]
This subpart contains noncompetitive appointing authorities covering a variety of situations and individuals, such as Peace Corps volunteers, former overseas employees, and incumbents of positions brought into the competitive service.
This subpart contains authorities to noncompetitively convert certain current employees from nonpermanent to permanent employment, such as employees formerly appointed via competitive examining and appointments leading to noncompetitive conversion.
This subpart covers appointments to competitive service positions above the GS-15 level that are subject to SL and ST salary rates. (See 5 CFR Part 317 for appointments to Senior Executive Service (SES) positions.)
Using these authorities, an agency may appoint an eligible individual to any position for which the person meets the qualification standard and other requirements governing appointment to the competitive service, except the individual is not required to compete in a competitive examination. Nor is the individual required to compete with career and career-conditional employees under internal merit staffing procedures unless an agency's policies require the individual to do so. The agency must verify applicant eligibility. To determine whether an appointee must serve probation, see 5 CFR Part 315, Subpart H. To determine when an appointee acquires career tenure, see 5 CFR Part 315, Subpart B.
The Presidential Memorandum - Improving the Federal Recruitment and Hiring Process issued on May 11, 2010, requires agencies to use the category rating approach (as authorized by section 3319 of title 5, United States Code) to assess and select job applicants for positions filled through competitive examining. Agencies would evaluate candidates and place them into two or more pre-determined quality categories. For additional guidance on using category rating, please refer to Chapter 5 of the Delegated Examining Operations Handbook.
Applicant organizations must complete and maintain the following registrations as described in the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide to be eligible to apply for or receive an award. Since competitive revisions are made against active grants and cooperative agreements, many of these registrations may already be in place. All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted. Registration can take 6 weeks or more, so applicants should begin the registration process as soon as possible. The NIH Policy on Late Submission of Grant Applications states that failure to complete registrations in advance of a due date is not a valid reason for a late submission.
Individual(s) must hold an active grant or cooperative agreement, and the research proposed in the supplement must be accomplished within the competitive segment of the active award. Individuals are encouraged to work with their organizations to develop applications for support. For supplements to parent awards that include multiple PDs/PIs, the supplement may be requested by any or all of the PDs/PIs (in accordance with the existing leadership plan) and submitted by the awardee institution of the parent award. Do not use this competitive revision application to add, delete, or change the PDs/PIs listed on the parent award. Visit the Multiple Program Director/Principal Investigator Policy in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide for more information.
Any special reporting requirements specific to the public health emergency will be specified in the terms and conditions of award as applicable to the supplemental activities. In most non-competing continuation applications, the progress report and budget for the supplement must be included with, but clearly delineated from, the progress report and budget for the parent award. The progress report must include information about the activities supported by the supplement even if support for future years is not requested. Continuation of support for the supplement activities in the remaining years of the competitive segment of the grant will depend upon satisfactory review by the NIH awarding component of progress for both the parent award and the supplement project, the research proposed for the next budget period, and the appropriateness of the proposed budget for the proposed effort. This information is submitted with the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) and financial statements as required in the NIH Grants Policy Statement. 2ff7e9595c
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