by Ben Vernia | August 18th, 2014
The Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold authored an excellent article published on Sunday, August 17, describing in detail how Medicare scammers perpetrated a long-running fraudulent scheme to bill for power wheelchairs and scooters, reimbursed by Medicare.
The story describes how brazen the lies were:
Authorities said the doctor at this clinic was in on the scam, too. He was paid to find the same problems, every time. The patient was too weak to use a cane. Or a walker. Or even a non-motorized wheelchair. Only a motorized wheelchair would do. Instead of making lame men walk, the doctor’s job was to make walking men lame — at least on paper.
In his testimony, Fernandez noted that the clinic was in a second-floor walk-up.
“I had to climb the stairs,” Fernandez said, in order for the doctor to proclaim him unfit to climb stairs.
Read his report here.
