Officials warn of continued durable medical equipment Medicare fraud

Local and state officials continue to warn people about fraud being conducted on people’s Medicare accounts.

People — including in north-central Montana — who have Medicare coverage are receiving calls offering durable medical equipment.

The Social Security Act does not allow suppliers of durable medical equipment — reusable medical equipment, such as walkers, wheelchairs or crutches — to make unsolicited calls to people with Medicare coverage.

“(Montana Senior Medicare Patrol) has received multiple reports across Montana of scam calls making the rounds,” a release from Montana Senior Medicare Patrol said. “Not only have folks been receiving calls selling durable medical equipment, … but several people have received unordered supplies including back braces. One case alone involved 20 different items from five different companies.”

Area X Council on Aging reports the scams have been hitting this area as well, including people receiving unordered medical equipment. The local officials are helping people deal with the scams.

Durable medical equipment must be prescribed by a doctor to be covered by Medicare.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services report that fraudulent telemarketing and durable medical equipment supplies contribute to the estimated $60 billion in fraudulent Medicare payments each year.

“Though it may end up being no cost to the person, it is costing Medicare, and until you report it, they will get away with it,” the release said.

People who receive a call offering medical equipment should immediately hang up, the release said.

People who have received items in the mail they didn’t order should refuse the delivery or send them back and report it to the local Senior Medicare Patrol office at 1-800-551-3191.

“Until someone else figures out how to stop these unsolicited calls from reaching out to you in the first place, we’ll stop the fraud one case at a time thanks to your help,” the release said.