Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Medical transportation companies are coming under increasing scrutiny by state and federal fraud watchdogs - and not just with respect to ambulance services.

The operators of a pair of Kansas transport companies are learning that lesson the hard way. According to U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren and Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline, Molly Meier and Cynthia Maze were charged June 19 in what prosecutors claim is a $2 million Medicaid fraud scheme. Meier and Maze owned and operated Toddler Town Special Purpose Child Care Center Inc. and Toddler Transport Inc. Meier was also an executive at M&M Transportation Company.

Authorities maintain that Meier and Maze - through Toddler Transport and M&M, both non-ambulance medical transportation companies - billed Medicaid for transport services to their child care center that were never provided or did not for a medical purpose, as required by Medicaid rules.

Lesson learned: Transport providers beware - enforcement is picking up, particularly at the state level.