Medicare is Overpaying for Medical Supplies

posted on Mar 21 by Snow in the Disability News, Health, Healthcare category

On the open market, wheelchairs can cost as little as $120, but Medicare can pay up to ten times that much for a similar wheelchair for patients that need them. The Director of Chronic Care Policy Group at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Laurence Wilson, said he thinks Medicare is “overpaying substantially for wheelchairs” and other medical equipment, according to WRAL News.

The main reason why Medicare may be overpaying for medical equipment such as wheelchairs and CPAP machines (a machine that blows air at a pressure high enough to keep your airway open during sleep), is that the government agency buys such equipment on a rent to own basis, rather than competitive pricing with manufacturers. Medicare pays monthly payments to the manufacturer on behalf of the patient to pay off the wheelchair, and these payments can add up. The system can work for patients and Medicare if a patient only needs a wheelchair for one or two months, but to buy one long-term costs Medicare too much money.

This rent-to-own process of buying medical equipment was set up by Congress, but Wilson says that changes have to be made to the system. According to WRAL News, “Medicare has a rent-to-own policy for most durable medical supplies, such as hospital beds, CPAP machines for sleep apnea and power wheelchairs.” Medicare payments for these types of medical equipment have been steadily on the rise.

Many Medicare patients like Jeanne Gunter of Raleigh, North Carolina just want to get wheelchairs for their loved ones, but are forced into high Medicare payments because of this system. Gunter, who wanted to buy a wheelchair for her 95 year old father, stopped the Medicare payments because it just wasn’t right to overpay so much.

According to the WRAL News Report, Medicare has started some competitive bidding practices with medical equipment suppliers in order to bring down prices for some of the more expensive equipment like power wheelchairs. However, many other types of equipment like manual wheelchairs have not been included in the changes.

Source: http://www.beckersasc.com/asc-supply-chain-materials-management/cms-chronic-care-director-says-medicare-is-overpaying-for-supplies.html