Editor’s note: At press time on Friday morning, industry stakeholders were still analyzing CMS’s announcement. This is a developing story. Check www.hmenews.com for updates.
WASHINGTON – CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz says a six‑month nationwide moratorium on new Medicare enrollments of DMEPOS medical supply companies will give the agency the time and capacity it needs to tackle what it believes is billions of dollars in fraud, waste and abuse.
“Part of the reason for this moratorium is it gives us time to be able to deal with these issues that have become massive,” he said during a Feb. 25 press conference. “And if we just shut down South Florida, they all flee to California and Texas, so we have to shut the whole country down. This unfortunate necessity is going to allow us to get on top of what we believe is billions of DME fraud.”…