FinallyRetired
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2002
- Messages
- 1,322
Nine months ago my 93 year old mother's doctor ordered a wheelchair for her from Medicare. This was not for a temporary injury, it's a permanent situation because at her age she has a hard time getting around. She got a regular, black, push-style wheelchair, and we never thought more about it. Recently she asked me to look at a Medicare explanation of benefits statement she received, and I noted Medicare was charged $237 for renting that wheelchair for that month. I then found out she had been receiving those statements over the last nine months and didn't know what to do with them, so she placed them in a drawer.
I called Medicare to tell them this was a mistake, the wheelchair should have been bought back then, it didn't cost more than $250, and a mistake must have been made. I was shocked at their response, they basically didn't care how much was paid, as long as it was under the Medicare allowed limit for a wheelchair. I then complained that they've already paid $237x9= $2133 for a $250 wheelchair over the last nine months, and they should just buy it. Again, they didn't care, the billed amount is under the Medicare limit for a monthly charge for a wheelchair. But they said I could call the wheelchair company and ask that it be made a purchase instead of a rental.
I told them that if they rely on me to make that call, they are commiting a self-fraud against Medicare and taxpayers, and with that type of cost accounting it's no wonder Medicare is going bankrupt. Their only answer, again, was to hide behind the allowed limits.
I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.
I called Medicare to tell them this was a mistake, the wheelchair should have been bought back then, it didn't cost more than $250, and a mistake must have been made. I was shocked at their response, they basically didn't care how much was paid, as long as it was under the Medicare allowed limit for a wheelchair. I then complained that they've already paid $237x9= $2133 for a $250 wheelchair over the last nine months, and they should just buy it. Again, they didn't care, the billed amount is under the Medicare limit for a monthly charge for a wheelchair. But they said I could call the wheelchair company and ask that it be made a purchase instead of a rental.
I told them that if they rely on me to make that call, they are commiting a self-fraud against Medicare and taxpayers, and with that type of cost accounting it's no wonder Medicare is going bankrupt. Their only answer, again, was to hide behind the allowed limits.
I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.