In an effort to drive down costs and fraud, Medicare has expanded a competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment (“DME”) to include 91 of the nation’s largest health care markets.  The program was established by the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act, but has since faced several delays in implementation.  Suppliers are currently submitting bids and Medicare will announce the results later this year.

Medicare says that a two year trial-run of the program in nine cities resulted in a nearly one-third reduction in Medicare’s costs.  Although DME providers have argued that the program will limit beneficiaries’ access to supplies and services, Medicare said its trial program showed no reduction in utilization and a 24-hour hotline set up to address such issues received less than 60 calls over the duration of the program.

Read the entire article, “New Medicare rule aims to curb waste and fraud in medical equipment business”