Medicare Deadline on DME Accreditation
: Medicare has set a deadline of all medical equipment providers to be accredited by Oct 1st. Almost 30,000 providers and pharmacies are still in the process. Inspectors are overloaded and unable to inspect everyone. Medicare is droping provider numbers of everyone who does not make it by Oct 1st. Thousands of jobs and small businesses are at stake. Not to mention the Medicare patients being cared for. Please help us if you can. A 3 month deadline extension could save thousands of jobs.
Anonymous said:
Sep 24, 09 at 5:58 pmMany providers such as us are up against the wall on this deadline for accreditation. Our company is with 3-4 weeks at the most of being inspected. However Medicare demands we drop our provider number until we are inspected, then we have to apply for a provider number all over again. With thousands of us in the same boat, how long with this process take? How many employees will we have to lay off? And how will we provide for our patients during this time? If we can even stay in business. An extenstion to the deadline could save thousands of jobs. Please help us if you can.
Jose Perez President Medical Care Specialists Corp. said:
Sep 25, 09 at 10:37 amGentlemen
Recently all DME Suppliers have received a letter from CMS informing that they should “Voluntarly” surrender their supplier number otherwise they would be revoked after sept 30 this month.
We recieved a call from our accreditation agengy asking us if we would “Voluntarly” surrender our supplier number.
I personally told them that I didnt beleive that no one with a little bit of comon sense will voluntaly surrender their supplier number and that CMS was trying to disguise their imposition of their revocation as if if was requested voluntarly by the suppliers.
I was told that if I voluntarly surrender my supplier number that there was a possibility that our number could be reinstated after we finish our accreditation process othewise CMS would impose a reenrolment bar of one year to all other supplier that did not “voluntarly” surrender their number.
I told them that if that was the case then i would be forced to “voluntarly” surrender my supplier number with a “gun in my head”
I Beleive that what CMS is doing is illegal and is called COERSION and I’m requesting an investigation from the OIG about this matter. PLEASE JOIN ME ON THIS REQUEST BY E-MAILIN THE OIG
(Coercion) Is the practice of forcing another party to behave in an involuntary manner (whether through action or inaction) by use of threats, intimidation, trickery, or some other form of pressure or force. Such actions are used as leverage, to force the victim to act in the desired way. Coercion may involve the actual infliction of physical pain/injury or psychological harm in order to enhance the credibility of a threat. Source Wikipedia
Anonymous said:
Oct 03, 09 at 12:49 pmDid Medicare really close all DME’s yesterday that weren’t completed with bond? Let me tell you . This was suicide for an already failing industry. I received my bond by the skin of my teeth Thurs. after cashing in what little retirement I had left to put a $10,000 CD up to obtain the bond. The surety Bond Companies reasoning for that? Slow pays on Company credit report! Heck, we are barely maknig it with what CMS reimburses anyway. This should’ve been stopped long ago. Don’t pealize the honest companies for the few fraudulent ones.