Medicare rule to curb waste, fraud in medical equipment business

Although durable medical equipment plays a critical role in the lives of many seniors, numerous government reports over two decades have decried overutilization, overpricing and fraud in the business. Beginning this month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is requiring suppliers to engage in competitive bidding to supply seniors with this equipment in 91 of the nation's largest markets, including Washington. A two-year pilot project in nine cities, which included hotbeds of durable medical equipment fraud in south Florida and Texas, succeeded in lowering Medicare's costs by nearly a third.