WASHINGTON -- The Department of Health and Human Services has agreed to investigate whether government contracts for durable medical goods -- such as wheelchairs, beds and blood-sugar monitors -- are being awarded properly. The probe stems from concerns that the Center for Medicare Services may have awarded hundreds of contracts to suppliers who aren't in compliance with program requirements. U.S. Reps. Glenn "G.T." Thompson, R-Centre, and Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, requested the investigation in June after learning that contracts were awarded to 30 unlicensed suppliers in Tennessee and that more may have been improperly awarded in other states.
