Anonymous
Competitive bidding will do nothing to save Medicare money. The companies that are the unethical companies that are over marketing the benefits are the same ones that will win the contracts and all the bidding process will do is take away the ethical competition that gives Medicare clients an option. CMS already sets the allowable and by taking away number of providers, they offer less CHOICE for elderly and much worse service. The Scooter Store already bills about 1/3 of Medicare powerchairs, won I beleive 6 of first 10 areas and they won’t make that mistake again, they will win all 10. They are already getting into more markets and have proved in the past that they do not offer service of any type. They more than most medical companies have the finances and connections to easlily jump thru the hoops of the bidding process. Medicare should set their allowable, (they have already dropped it 30% in 3 years), and do a better job of busting the crooks. I know of several companies who have had complaints filed and never even been visited to follow up. How can a company in Floriday supply a wheelchair in Kentucky or 1 in Tennessee supply 1 in Nevada and even be remotely interested in client? By making more laws all the government does is give the crooks a road map to keep taking advantage of Medicare and its beneficiaries. I also cannot believe our government makes rules that take away the freedom of starting a business which is done if you say only 10 providers can be in a particular business in an area. I also know you have heard that DME comprises 2-3% of CMS budget, cut it out completely and you don’t even make a drop in the bucket of all these stimulus projects. My company specializes in rehab, 1 properly fit powerchair that a fall or skin flap surgery is easily a 80% savings for the federal government. Embrace DME and be thankful for the ability to keep clients home instead of a $4000 a month nursing home, the freedoms it supplies to the elderly, the savings over institutional care, and also since the country is in a nationwide financial crisis look at the number of jobs it creates and tax dollars generated.
