Healthcare leaders urge White House caution in fraud enforcement

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(The Center Square) - Leaders in the healthcare industry called on the Trump administration to exercise caution as it goes after fraud.

President Donald Trump established the White House’s Fraud Task Force on March 16, with Vice President JD Vance set to lead the group. As part of efforts to crack down on fraud, Vance and Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, announced a nationwide six-month moratorium on Medicare enrollment for medical equipment that began Feb. 27.

The moratorium would primarily affect medicare enrollment for oxygen equipment, mobility devices and diabetic supplies.

Ryan Bullock, chief strategy office at Aeroflow Health, told The Center Square that the Trump administration’s moratorium has a negative effect on organizations like his that do not engage in fraud.

“We’re being syphoned and caught up in the bad actor chase,” Bullock said. “We’re not perfect, but overwhelmingly patients value the product and service that we’re providing.”

Bullock said patients he talks to are “scrappy” and will sometimes go without devices they need if they cannot access necessary care. He said he is concerned that the moratorium could disrupt supply chains for medical devices.

Aeroflow Health recently had to pause a planned expansion in Florida due to state and federal government crackdowns on fraud.

“We're not able to service beneficiaries out of that location,” Bullock said. “Yet, we're providing a great service to the Medicare population as well as Medicaid and commercial population.”

Vance and Oz have repeatedly cited large sums of Medicare and Medicaid fraud throughout the country as they have halted funds and issued moratoriums on services.

Oz said the issues with medical equipment is becoming a large problem across the country.

"This unfortunate necessity is going to allow us to get on top of what we believe is billions of dollars of [durable medical equipment] frauds," Oz said. "We already stopped a billion and a half dollars of billing, but we need more time to shut down these bad guys."

The administration asked industry leaders to submit feedback through a request for information on how to navigate fraud in medicare and medicaid. Aeroflow Health submitted comments and recommendations for the administration.

Bullock called on the Trump administration to pursue fraud before it happens, rather than afterward. He also said beneficiaries should be empowered to report fraudulent and suspicious behavior to government officials managing Medicare and Medicaid programs.

“There's a lot of pay and chase in CMS currently and it would be nice with the day and age that we're in, from a technology perspective, to bring that on the front end before payments are made,” Bullock said.

Aeroflow Health urged the administration to implement tracking numbers and delivery confirmation systems before a payment is submitted. Bullock estimated that a significant portion of money that goes toward fraud in medical device sales is not recovered.

“I think it would help protect quality suppliers that are trying to service beneficiaries, Medicare beneficiaries, and not interrupt good actors,” Bullock said.

The Trump administration’s continued pursuit of fraud will involve greater communication among executive agencies, according to Vice President Vance. He urged and approach that tackles fraud before payments are made.

"Our social safety net will disappear unless we take fraud more seriously," Vance said. "What I'm most worried about is that unless we preserve these programs for the next generation, they're going to disappear, and all the money is going to go to fraudsters."