CMS Pulls Privileges of 1,000+ Providers

In conjunction with its announcement of a new surety bond
requirement for HME providers, CMS also said it has revoked the
billing privileges of 1,139 providers in the Los Angeles and Miami
areas.

According to the agency, the providers, who were paid $265
million between 2005 and 2007, lost their privileges for not
re-enrolling in Medicare, a requirement of the DMEPOS High-Risk Suppliers Demonstration, and not
meeting the supplier standards.

In a Bloomberg News report, Kimberly Brandt, Medicare’s director of
program integrity, labeled a lot of the companies whose privileges
were pulled as “storefront shams.”

The massive anti-fraud demonstration was launched in October
2007 and covered some 7,700 providers in southern California and
south Florida. At the time, CMS said the pilot project would run
for two years and, if successful, could be expanded to other areas
(see CMS Launches Anti-Fraud
Demo; Industry Asks, What Took You So Long?, HomeCare
Monday, July 9, 2007).