New Requirement for Medical Equipment Providers to Get Rid of Fraud

Jenny Albano

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Medicare officials announced Monday that they are making a great effort to get rid of healthcare fraud in South Florida. Federal officials will now require medical equipment providers to re-apply every year for their Medicare license.

Each new applicant will have 30 days to reapply for a license. If they don't, their ability to bill Medicare will be revoked. If they do, the next step will be unscheduled site visits to make sure they adhere to 21 requirements, including regular hours and substantial inventories.

Medicare officials are hoping that the new reapplication process will scare some of the fraud companies away. The problem is that there are no specific requirements to have a medical equipment company, and applicants will more than likely not be turned down unless they have a felony charge. Leslie V. Norwalk, the acting Medicare Administrator, stated that the main purpose of these new requirements is to get more investigators out on the streets looking into these medical equipment companies to see if they are legitimate.

Healthcare fraud is South Florida costs hundreds of millions of dollars a year and has been a problem for decades. The rates of medical equipment fraud have increased rapidly over the last few years. In 2002, the equipment companies in Miami-Dade billed Medicare for over $470 million, and by 2006 the charges had increased to $1.68 billion.

For many residents, these stricter guidelines could not have come any sooner. Some patients have had their identities used for thousands of dollars in fraudulent claims and they are ready to see a change.