Home Health & Hospice Week

OIG wants even larger bonds for DME suppliers.

The OIG is urging CMS to get tougher on surety bonds, and home health agencies might be next on the bonding list.

In a new report, the HHS Office of Inspec-tor General reviews problems with durable medical equipment suppliers’ surety bonds. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services began requiring the DME bonds in 2009. One of the biggest reasons CMS can’t recover overpayments is because the bond amount is too low at $50,000, the OIG says.

Lawmakers continue to eye HHAs for bond requirements. That’s especially true in the face of the numerous high-profile fraud convictions and settlements in recent months. The OIG’s pro-bond stance may help tip the scales toward an HHA bond requirement too, industry observers predict.

CMS agrees with all the OIG’s bond-related suggestions in the report, which is at http://go.usa.gov/277T