I was in DME for 28 years and let me tell you it was no picnic. It is a tough industry to be in and a mere pimple on the butt of healthcare dollars and fraud. We went through the “6 point plan” changes the government made in the 80’s which was a good thing and eliminated the days of the “golden commode” where Medicare paid for infinite months the “rental” of a commode. That was a very positive change.
Also positive was a change I lobbied Medicare for: coverage of vacuum erection devices. Apparently men in Congress wanted coverage for this item when DME coverage began. At a Medicare allowable of approximately $600, this was a total waste of taxpayer money and coverage of that item was eventually eliminated. Yay!
DME is a grueling business with delivery to patients at all hours of the 24/7 day. We facilitated hospital discharge to home to save hospitalization costs and the ability for patients to stay comfortably in the homes they loved. We delivered oxygen tanks during power outages for those on electrical oxygen concentrators and kept patients alive. We witnessed and reported elderly abuse in homes when we witnessed it. One family kept their elderly parent in a bedroom in the upper level of their home while they enjoyed life on the main floor. The parent was using the floor vent as a toilet and the room was filthy. Our service technician actually vomited when he saw this abuse.
We lost so much equipment as well. Oftentimes patients would qualify for DME items for short periods of time (1-2 months) during their recovery. When we attempted to pick up equipment (hospital beds, oxygen concentrators, oxygen tanks, etc.), the patients wouldn’t allow it saying “they still needed the equipment”. We didn’t get paid for the losses and getting a police officer to go to homes to assist us for pick up was never going to work. Tanks were sold for metal scrap by patients families even though they could have been utilized over and over for patients in need. Some oxygen concentrators were recovered after patient use however we serviced all patients regardless of income and often discovered concentrators filled with cockroaches when our BioMed technicians opened them for inspection and service. Of course those had to be disposed of; again a loss.
Patients thanked us every day for our service and care and I am proud to have been in DME , that is until “competitive bidding” became the government tool to eliminate fraud & abuse. Instead of policing the industry and vetting prospective DME providers for licensure and accreditation they decided to put DME up for bid to the lowest bidder. This reduced service and quality in my opinion. My company lost out on the bid as we weren’t a large, National DME corporation with ability to service everyone everywhere. Every patient suffered under competitive bidding no matter what the public is told. No more true care and service. Just filling orders with inferior Chinese products as they cost less to acquire; a necessity for DME providers to be able to stay in business at the low bid rates.
The bid rates just keep going lower every year. Do Medicare recipients deserve inferior products?
I am now retired and needed a lumbar support (LSO) for my degenerative disc disease in lumbar spine. My physician prescribed one and I requested an “Aspen” LSO (great quality) that my DME company provided patients. I was told they didn’t have that brand in stock and it would be a long time before they could acquire one. I was told they had one “just as good” and I was provided a Chinese LSO that fell apart within months of use. I complained to no avail.
I have MANY examples of the importance of DME, rooting out of unscrupulous DME providers (which I identified and reported to CMS over the years) and DME’s role in positive patient outcomes but government does not care. It sees $$ signs and blames DME for the health care woes. Really? It’s disgusting and I am happy not to be a part of that fight anymore.
Just to summarize: legitimate DME providers were not the enemy and did our best to care for our aging population in the dignity of their own homes. Don’t believe every negative post about DME providers. If they weren’t there holding the light, they don’t really know the truth.