HHS, DOJ Target Fraudulent Infusion Therapy Providers

WASHINGTON–The Department of Health and Human Services and the
Department of Justice are joining forces for a demonstration
project to eliminate fraudulent infusion therapy providers,
officials announced late Friday.

The agencies will review prosecutions by a joint strike force
and reveal details of the demonstration during a reporter
conference call today with Herb Kuhn, CMS acting deputy
administrator; R. Alexander Acosta, United States attorney for the
Southern District of Florida; and Kimberly Brandt, CMS director of
program integrity.

“The demonstration project will have an immediate effect in
South Florida,” according to a media advisory.

In what it has called “the first step in a protracted effort to
eliminate the potential for fraud,” HHS and the DOJ formed a
multi-agency Medicare Fraud Strike Force earlier this year to
investigate fraudulent suppliers (see HomeCare Monday, May 14). During a
three-month period, the effort yielded 56 arrests and “stopped
companies who collectively billed more than $258 million to
Medicare,” HHS said.

The agency also has begun demonstration projects focused on
preventing sham DME and home health companies from operating in
South Florida, Southern California and the Houston area. And last
month, CMS proposed a rule to help limit Medicare’s risk by
requiring all DMEPOS providers to supply a $65,000 surety bond (see
HomeCare Monday, July 30).

Check future issues of HomeCare Monday for coverage of
the infusion therapy fraud project.