Tag: surety bonds
CMS finalizes changes to bid program
October 28, 2016HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - CMS issued a final rule Oct. 28 with a number of changes to competitive bidding, including establishing bid limits for future rounds of the program based on the fee schedule rates before they were adjusted.
“This will avoid a downward trend where the new, lower bid limits apply to each subsequent round of bidding based on fee schedule rates adjusted using bidding information from the previous round,” the agency stated. “This will help enhance the long-term viability...
CMS proposes changes for surety bonds
July 26, 2016Guest Commentary
On March 1, 2016, CMS published a proposed rule that seeks to address a growing number of abuses of the federal healthcare program by certain Medicare providers. The rule titled “Medicare, Medicaid, and Children's Health Insurance Programs; Program Integrity Enhancements to the Provider Enrollment Process” includes a number of provisions that directly concern providers and suppliers of Medicare.These include an increase in requirements for disclosure of affiliations by providers, greater...
Surety bond prices up on Medicare activity
June 20, 2014Leah Hoenen
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - The price of surety bonds is rising on increased Medicare activity and drops in credit scores, insurance brokers say.“From what I've heard from customers that have shopped for surety bonds with us, they have noticed everything from a little to a pretty decent price increase from the carrier they're currently with,” said Bill McMahon, account executive at Cailor Fleming Insurance, which has not increased its bond prices.Medicare began requiring that HME providers carry...
Ohio: Medicaid may require surety bonds
August 23, 2013Elizabeth Deprey
COLUMBUS, Ohio - HME providers are “high risk,” and therefore should be required to get surety bonds if they want to participate in Ohio's Medicaid program, according to a recent audit report.
That may or may not be a big deal, stakeholders say.
“As Medicare providers, a lot of our members already have that,” said Kam Yuricich, executive director of the Ohio Association of Medical Equipment Services (OAMES). “The big question is if this will be a separate...
In brief: ResMed lawsuit, surety bond update
March 29, 2013HME News Staff
SAN DIEGO - ResMed has sued Taiwanese manufacturer Apex Medical and its U.S. distributor, Medical Depot, doing business as Drive Medical, to stop alleged patent infringement. ResMed has filed parallel legal actions in the International Trade Commission (ITC) and U.S. federal court, alleging its patents are being infringed by several Apex products, including the Wizard 210 and 220 masks; the Freedom 210 and 220 masks made by Apex and sold by Medical Depot; and the iCH and XT Fit flow generators. “We...
OIG to CMS: Increase surety bond amounts
March 28, 2013HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - The Office of Inspector General (OIG) has made another push for CMS to use surety bonds to recover overpayments from HME providers.In a report this month that updates a similar report from 2011, the OIG stated that, as of July 2012, CMS has collected only $263,000 out of the millions it could have collected using the surety bond requirement.The OIG also raised the stakes by recommending, among other things, that CMS use its legislative authority under the Affordable Care Act to require...
Industry seeks improvements to surety bond program
June 21, 2012HME News Staff
WASHINGTON - Industry stakeholders yesterday submitted comments to CMS outlining concerns with a recent wave of claims against surety bonds—some triggered by overpayments as low as $16."Our position is that the surety bond is an anti-fraud tool; it is not a collection instrument and should not be used for that purpose," said Walt Gorski, vice president of government affairs for AAHomecare and a member of a newly formed stakeholder group. "CMS does recognize that there is a problem here and...
Medicare tries to collect on surety bonds
May 18, 2012Liz Beaulieu, Editor
WASHINGTON - Medicare has started filing claims against surety bonds as a way to recoup overpayments from HME providers, industry stakeholders report.This latest move shouldn't be much of a surprise: Last fall, Medicare took heat from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for not using surety bonds to recoup overpayments.“We knew it was coming and now we're seeing almost a tidal wave of claims,” said Warren Freeman, director of sales and marketing for VGM Insurance, which has hired an...