Enforcement Watch:
A Few Bad Apples Ruining It For All DME Providers
Published on Thu Mar 17, 2005
DME dealer got wheelchair money - but didn't give her customers wheelchairs.
Despite the continued crackdown on power wheelchair fraud, a few errant suppliers continue to keep investigators on high alert.
The owner of a Tulsa, OK durable medical equipment company is the latest to plead guilty to forging Certificates of Medical Necessity (CMNs). Now, Janet Merrifield must pay more than $348,000 in restitution to Medicaid, serve five months in prison, five months of home detention and three years of supervised release, according to Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson. A joint investigation by the state's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit found that Merrifield, the operator of Mid-States Medical, signed doctors' names on CMNs for electronic wheelchairs and received reimbursement of up to $5,000 from Medicaid.
Fraudster Illustrates What Not To Do Instead of delivering the wheelchairs to her customers, Merrifield allegedly provided scooters valued at $1,500.
Lesson Learned: As prosecutors continue to get rid of these crooked DME dealers, tight compliance is the name of the game.