Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert

Published on Mon May 10, 2004 PDF

In an April 28 hearing, the Senate Finance Committee considered new reports from the General Accounting Office and the HHS Office of Inspector General. In the wake of Operation Wheeler Dealer, the OIG found that only 13 percent of power wheelchair claims met Medicare's criteria, and almost 33 percent of claims didn't meet the requirements for any type of wheelchair.
 
Medicare spent $1.2 billion in 2003 on power wheelchairs, and payments increased 450 percent in the past four years, the OIG added.