WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Justice Department announced Friday it is suing the Scooter Store, alleging the company submitted fraudulent claims to government health care programs to obtain reimbursement for power wheelchairs rather than much less expensive power scooters.
The New Braunfels, Texas-based company has billed Medicare for claims worth over $400 million since 1997.
The government’s suit, filed in federal court in San Antonio, Texas, was a counterclaim to a complaint by the company, which is trying to overturn decisions by the Department of Health and Human Services disallowing hundreds of reimbursement claims for power wheelchairs in cases where HHS concluded the company failed to establish a medical necessity for the claims.
The Justice Department says the company engaged in a mass marketing campaign, assuring Medicare beneficiaries the scooters would be paid for by the federal health care program.
Once potential customers contacted the company on a toll-free number, callers were told Medicare would pay only for much more expensive power wheelchairs or that patients could not get a physician to approve the order for a motorized scooter, the lawsuit says.
Source: Justice Department sues alleging fraudulent claims in Medicare, Medicaid programs / News on 6