Bellingham, Wash.
The customer isn't always right.
At least that's the message Tim Johnson, president of Global-Med
Specialty Medical Equipment, said he would like to convey. The
provider has dealt with a “problem customer” who he
said has requested a string of unnecessary service visits and has
abused his company's rental equipment.
After talking with legal counsel, CMS and DMERC representatives,
Johnson said he found that, technically, “a Medicare
Participating Provider cannot, under any circumstances, terminate
an account for a capped rental item once that rental has moved into
the maintenance and servicing period, as long as there remains a
medical necessity.”
In a Nov. 5 letter, Malvin White of CMS' Seattle branch office
told Johnson that “Medicare rules do not provide clear
guidance on a supplier's rights in cases where a beneficiary abuses
equipment.”
With an attorney's help, Johnson said, he hopes to end the
problem rental agreement soon. “It's like a Black
hole,” Johnson said. “I think other suppliers would be
very concerned to learn that there is no way out once an account
goes into the maintenance and servicing period.”
