📋 Medicare Foots The Bill For Nationwide Medical Brace Scam (AARP Article)

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FROM THE ARTICLE - SEE ARTICLE FOR MORE!!!

Scam Snares Medicare Beneficiaries, Government in Billion-Dollar Ruse.

Agency spent big on potentially harmful braces.

By Michael Hedges, AARP. Published October 07, 2024.

Medicare footed the bill for more than $1 billion in fraudulent claims for neck, back and other braces sold through phone calls from telemarketers and obtained without consultation from a doctor, a government watchdog says. The equipment potentially puts people’s health at risk.

From 2018 to 2020, Medicare routinely approved payments for off-the-shelf — not custom-fitted nor custom-made — orthotic braces delivered to the homes of beneficiaries of the government insurance program, according to a May 2024 report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. Medicare didn’t confirm brace recipients saw doctors, as required to ensure the equipment didn’t do more harm than good.

https://www.aarp.org/health/medicare-insurance/info-2024/nationwide-medical-brace-scam.html