"GAO: Lax oversight plaguing Medicare" by Associated Press | August 4, 2008
WASHINGTON - The government is putting millions of Medicare dollars at risk by authorizing fictitious sellers of wheelchairs, prosthetics, and other medical supplies to submit reimbursement claims with only limited review, congressional investigators say.
The study by the Government Accountability Office sought to follow up on oversight gaps that have plagued the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services since at least 2005. Roughly $1 billion of the $10 billion in annual Medicare payments the government makes for medical equipment are later deemed improper.
These fictitious suppliers, based in Maryland and Virginia, won privileges even though GAO investigators deliberately provided the government with sketchy information and false documents that offered little assurances the companies were legitimate. Investigators noted that CMS had made promises since at least 2005 to fix problems in its supply program and achieved only limited success."
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