Scooter Store cuts 220 workers

[DainBramaged]

Changes in claims-processing procedures and reductions in reimbursement amounts are behind the cuts, Zipp said.


The latest cuts come less than three weeks after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented a three-year demonstration program that requires durable medical equipment providers get “prior authorization” from Medicare before patients living in any of seven states receive a scooter or power wheelchair.

Those states are Texas, California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, North Carolina and Florida. The states have “high populations of fraud- and error-prone providers,” CMS said in a statement last month. The program eventually could be rolled out in all states.

“CMS believes this demonstration will lead to reductions in improper payments for mobility devices, which will help ensure the sustainability of the Medicare Trust Funds,” the statement added.


http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/More-layoffs-at-The-Scooter-Store-3874803.php


This isn't about 220 jobs, this is about a company that sold scooters at inflated prices to the elderly and charged Medicare exorbitant prices.
The Scooter Store now gets reimbursed over a 13-month period as opposed to all up front. This halved their income since 2009.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. once gram got that damn scooter, she stopped walking and pretty soon she couldn't.

I'm convinced they're oversold by at least 75%.

[physioex]

2. And at the Supermarket....

They get way overused.

[global1]

3. The Scooter Store Is An Oportunist Scam.....

They saw a way to take advantage of the reimbursement situation and did. Now that CMS has caught on and is clamping down they are in trouble. I would keep and eye on the Scooter Store in the future. They could be targeted for fraud and abuse and will probably be fined out of existence.

[DainBramaged]

4. Somehow they find out people on disability and pummel them with ads and junk mail

and don't forget that free gift.....


The Scooter Store, Chinese made just for the masses. If you go to the website they tell you NOTHING about the products they sell.

[onewhoknows]

5. They've committed fraud for years

The Scooter Store has overbilled Medicare and other insurance companies for many years. They found a way "legally" to bilk millions of dollars......tax dollars.....from the government. They buy the power wheelchairs from US companies but they are manufactured in China. They pay $900 for these and then charge Medicare almost $4000. It is a fact that they have delivered power wheelchairs to customers who have walked out of their homes to greet the delivery "technician". Occasionally a technician will refuse to deliver when this occurs as this is fraud, then the local manager will just reschedule the delivery with a different technician saying that the customer was "just having a good day". It is a fact that they shut service off at the end of the month to concentrate ONLY on deliveries. Once the chair is delivered, the customer becomes secondary as at that point TSS loses money on every service call. They started offering loaners to customers whose chairs required service. Did they do this out of kindness and care for the customer? NO! They found that they could bill Medicare $800 for every loaner they placed. So, knowing this, they pressured each customer to accept a loaner even if the repair only required new batteries. This arrogant company was forced to pay HHS a 4 million dollar settlement due to fraudulent billing. They then claimed this as a victory. Medicare needs to look at every claim submitted by this company, and the PMD demo is a good start. I wonder how the US taxpayer would feel knowing that the profits made by this company paid for a cruise to Mexico in '06 for the entire company at a reported cost of over a million dollars. The Scooter Store needs to be shut down. I applaud the efforts of CMS in their first step in doing this. The self-righteous leadership team who scream "We are Compliant" need to be in prison for their part in defrauding Medicare. They only care about your mobility in the sense that it's another sale and money in the bank.

[littlemissmartypants]

6. Welcome to the DU!

[onewhoknows]

8. Aww thanks!!

[littlemissmartypants]

7. It is a (poorly) guarded secret in the pharma industry...

that the philosophy there is " create the treatment, create disease, create the need, make money" I learned of it from reading copies of faxes from the FDA that were made public during lawsuits.