When Government Does Its Job
Every once in a while (and not nearly often enough) my spirits get lifted by news that, against all odds, the federal government is actually doing what the taxpayers are paying it to do. This article in today's Los Angeles Times is one of those times.
Federal officials are expected to announce in Los Angeles today a nationwide effort to combat fraudulent Medicare billing by medical equipment suppliers in 70 urban areas.
Such fraud in the federal healthcare program for the elderly has increased in recent years, particularly in the sprawling urban areas of Southern California and south Florida where many of the most vulnerable Medicare recipients live. ...
As part of their effort to stop such fraud, officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services plan to require medical equipment suppliers to be vetted by approved accrediting agencies, some of the same ones that vet pharmacies and hospitals. Moreover, suppliers would have to set their prices through a competitive bidding process. The rules will begin to take effect this spring. ...
Under the new rules, suppliers will have to pay to apply to one of 10 accrediting organizations. Fees will range from $1,500 to $10,000, Brandt said.
During accreditation, suppliers will face stricter background checks and more frequent inspections with short notice, Brandt said. If those checks raise suspicions of fraud or the potential for fraud -- for instance, if a manager has had a felony conviction during the last five to 10 years -- the supplier could be bounced from the program, Brandt said.
Now, I've been critical of some of the actions taken by Medicare to contain costs (see here and here), but in this case, the actions being taken are appropriate. Durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs are often a part of elders' daily life and should be covered under the Medicare insurance program. What is not acceptable, however, is for the providers of those goods to gouge the elders and the federal government. When unscrupulous vendors step in take advantage of the system, then the government has to step in and impose the kind of regulations that force those vendors out of the system, and, if possible, out of business.
Apparently the medical equipment providers don't agree, however:
Many suppliers would rather see the government lower listed prices for Medicare equipment than impose more onerous requirements, said Bob Achermann, executive director of the Sacramento-based California Assn. of Medical Product Suppliers, which includes about 300 suppliers statewide.
Oh, please.
Selling an elder shopping for a wheelchair with an electronic leg lift so she can avoid foot ulcers everything but that wheelchair, and then billing her for the wheelchair (never delivered) anyway is the kind of behavior we should tolerate? If the trade organization is so concerned about the government's intrusion into their market, why didn't they clean up their act before the government was forced to do so?
Here, Mr. Acherman, is a quarter. Go buy yourself a clue.
Federal officials are expected to announce in Los Angeles today a nationwide effort to combat fraudulent Medicare billing by medical equipment suppliers in 70 urban areas.
Such fraud in the federal healthcare program for the elderly has increased in recent years, particularly in the sprawling urban areas of Southern California and south Florida where many of the most vulnerable Medicare recipients live. ...
As part of their effort to stop such fraud, officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services plan to require medical equipment suppliers to be vetted by approved accrediting agencies, some of the same ones that vet pharmacies and hospitals. Moreover, suppliers would have to set their prices through a competitive bidding process. The rules will begin to take effect this spring. ...
Under the new rules, suppliers will have to pay to apply to one of 10 accrediting organizations. Fees will range from $1,500 to $10,000, Brandt said.
During accreditation, suppliers will face stricter background checks and more frequent inspections with short notice, Brandt said. If those checks raise suspicions of fraud or the potential for fraud -- for instance, if a manager has had a felony conviction during the last five to 10 years -- the supplier could be bounced from the program, Brandt said.
Now, I've been critical of some of the actions taken by Medicare to contain costs (see here and here), but in this case, the actions being taken are appropriate. Durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs are often a part of elders' daily life and should be covered under the Medicare insurance program. What is not acceptable, however, is for the providers of those goods to gouge the elders and the federal government. When unscrupulous vendors step in take advantage of the system, then the government has to step in and impose the kind of regulations that force those vendors out of the system, and, if possible, out of business.
Apparently the medical equipment providers don't agree, however:
Many suppliers would rather see the government lower listed prices for Medicare equipment than impose more onerous requirements, said Bob Achermann, executive director of the Sacramento-based California Assn. of Medical Product Suppliers, which includes about 300 suppliers statewide.
Oh, please.
Selling an elder shopping for a wheelchair with an electronic leg lift so she can avoid foot ulcers everything but that wheelchair, and then billing her for the wheelchair (never delivered) anyway is the kind of behavior we should tolerate? If the trade organization is so concerned about the government's intrusion into their market, why didn't they clean up their act before the government was forced to do so?
Here, Mr. Acherman, is a quarter. Go buy yourself a clue.
Labels: Free Markets, Medicare
posted by Diane at 3:55 AM
3 Comments:
What you, the LA Times, and Medicare fail to mention is the fact that Medicare has done a terrible job of keeping criminals from getting supplier numbers. The regulations for the legitmate providers are a real burden and Congress has cut reimbursements to the legitimate providers repeatedly. So please DO NOT confuse real providers with the criminals.
I am most certainly not confusing the real providers with the criminals. Durable medical equipment is essential to a huge segment of our population, and there is a necessary marketplace for the supplying of those goods.
However, an effort to weed out the criminals in this situation is laudable and one that should have taken place years ago. In fact, if the "marketplace" had policed its own, none of this would have been necessary.
But it didn't, so it is.
$499 for a plastic shower chair. Please.
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