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Fairfax Underground
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Medicare overpaying millions on ‘erection pumps’
Posted by:
Vac-u-Jack
()
Date: January 13, 2014 09:09PM
A government report released Monday says Medicare is paying out-sized amounts for male vacuum erection systems compared to non-Medicare payers.
The inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Servicesfound that Medicare payments for the devices remain “grossly excessive,” or more than twice as much as the Department of Veterans Affairs and consumers on the Internet pay.
“If the Medicare fee schedule amount for VES had been adjusted to approximate the amount paid for the same or similar devices by non-Medicare payers, the federal government would have saved an average of approximately $14.4 million for each of the six years reviewed, and Medicare beneficiaries would have saved approximately $3.6 million annually,” the report said.
In its response, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it agreed with the inspector general’s belief that the agency should look at a vehicle known as the “inherent reasonableness process,” which relies on competitive bidding procedures.
The inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Servicesfound that Medicare payments for the devices remain “grossly excessive,” or more than twice as much as the Department of Veterans Affairs and consumers on the Internet pay.
“If the Medicare fee schedule amount for VES had been adjusted to approximate the amount paid for the same or similar devices by non-Medicare payers, the federal government would have saved an average of approximately $14.4 million for each of the six years reviewed, and Medicare beneficiaries would have saved approximately $3.6 million annually,” the report said.
In its response, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it agreed with the inspector general’s belief that the agency should look at a vehicle known as the “inherent reasonableness process,” which relies on competitive bidding procedures.