Anti-Fraud Measures Urgently Needed For Medicare

According to the Durable Medical Equipment Industry, Anti-Fraud measures are desperately required for Medicare. It seems that Medicare has not used it’s authority to combat fraud and abuse effectively enough.

The Medicare budget is $400 million and the medical equipment portion of it is less than two percent. It is also the slowest growing sectors. Americans seem to choose home based care nursing homes and institutional care.

The durable medical equipment industry has asked for provider accreditation requirements since the early 1990’s. This will enable legitimate businesses to thrive and fraudulent entities to be known.

Congress passed such a law only in 2003 and the date for accreditation was announced only some weeks back – it is September 30, 2009. It is under question why so much time has passed before a fraud prevention law has been imposed.

The American Association of Homecare has raised several questions that must be answered by Medicare. For the benefit of the general public let us hope that these questions are answered and Medicare fraud is prevented.