Feds to enforce tighter restrictions to help prevent Medicare fraud

Los Angeles area is right in the thick of it...BD 

Federal officials are expected to announce in Los Angeles today a nationwide effort to combat fraudulent Medicare billing by medical equipment suppliers in 70 urban areas.
Such fraud in the federal healthcare program for the elderly has increased in recent years, particularly in the sprawling urban areas of Southern California and south Florida where many of the most vulnerable Medicare recipients live.

In one case, 84-year-old Alice Christoff, who is legally blind and cannot walk, says she went shopping for a new electronic wheelchair last year only to have a saleswoman foist upon her a series of products she didn't need or want, including costly -- but subpar -- electronic wheelchairs, a hospital bed and hydraulic bathroom lift. All of it was billed to Medicare, at a cost of more than $28,300.

Southern California recently has proved a hot spot for such illicit operations. For the year preceding April 2007, 123 California suppliers had their Medicare billing privileges revoked. Of those, 108 were in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Eighty-three were in Los Angeles County alone. That is almost double the 42 suppliers revoked statewide in fiscal year 2002.

Feds to enforce tighter restrictions to help prevent Medicare fraud - Los Angeles Times