1 minute read
Avoid Sneaky Doctors and Medical Firms
by The Shopper
A client sent me some papers and asked for help. I read the papers sent and recommended that she come to my office to work with me. We met on June 13, 2023. I spent almost two hours with her. The client is from Lowell, Indiana.
Her problem was that her doctor or medical firm were sneaky. The medical firm had contracted with Medicare regarding their services. But the medical firm (doctor) never contracted with Medicare to sell and file claims for DURABLE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT. In that way, they could sell DURABLE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT to patients without filing a claim with Medicare and without giving the patient a Medicare discount.
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In our client’s case, the medical firm charged her $250 for orthotics for her shoes. The medical firm insisted that she pay $250 before the orthotic devices were ordered. I estimate that this cost our client over $200 more than what she would have paid if the claim had been filed with Medicare originally.
Not contracting with Medicare while selling DURABLE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT to patients creates a cash bonanza for the medical firm while exploiting senior citizens and taking much more money from them than would be allowed if the medical firm was contracted with Medicare to sell DURABLE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT.
If the medical firm did not sell DURABLE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT but was willing to help a patient place an order with a company that sold those and was contracted with Medicare to sell DURABLE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT, that would be different. In that case the doctor or medical firm would be treating a senior citizen on Medicare ethically.
My advice to people is that if a medical firm or doctor is not contracted with Medicare in every area of practice, walk away and find another doctor.
Note: Woodrow Wilcox is the senior medical bill case worker at Senior Care Insurance Services in Merrillville, Indiana. He has saved clients of that firm over three million dollars by fighting mistakes and fraud in the Medicare system. Also, Wilcox wrote the book SOLVING MEDICARE PROBLEM$ which is available through book stores and online.
