Council for Quality Respiratory Care Response to Incidents of Medicare Fraud and...

Council for Quality Respiratory Care Response to Incidents of Medicare Fraud
and Abuse

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Council for Quality
Respiratory Care (CQRC) -- a coalition of the nation's 11 leading home oxygen
therapy providers and manufacturers representing nearly one half of the
Medicare beneficiaries who depend on Medicare's home oxygen benefit for
quality of care and quality of life -- strongly supports efforts by the
federal government to address Medicare fraud and abuse in a just and
transparent manner.

As providers of quality home oxygen therapy and manufacturers of home medical
equipment, we find the study released yesterday by the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) extremely alarming and applaud any measure
designed to further protect Medicare beneficiaries from fraudulent suppliers
of durable medical equipment, prosthetics and orthotics supplies (DMEPOS).
The Council supports any and all efforts to strengthen the DMEPOS enrollment
and inspection process to prevent deceptive companies from taking advantage of
vulnerable Medicare beneficiaries and American taxpayers who fund the nation's
Medicare program.

Our members are dedicated to providing quality products and services 24-hours
a day, seven days a week to many of the 1.4 million Medicare beneficiaries who
depend on Medicare's home oxygen benefit for quality of care and quality of
life. The Council firmly states that any abuse of this privilege is
unconscionable and is not representative of the thousands of honest,
dedicated, hard-working men and women who serve this vulnerable population
every day.

The Council strongly believes that all home oxygen providers must be good
financial stewards of the Medicare program by providing high quality products
and/or services to Medicare beneficiaries and by complying with all applicable
program laws, rules and regulations.

We are committed to working closely and diligently with the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), federal and state law enforcement
officials to ensure that any and all cases of fraud and abuse are routed out
and dealt with appropriately. Further, the Council encourages the development
of meaningful accreditation standards and mandatory accreditation of all
providers. The Council also supports full enforcement of these standards
through unannounced on-site inspections and other procedures to further ensure
and safeguard the integrity of the program.

The Council also believes that the government should maintain a zero tolerance
policy for any providers who knowingly and willingly break any law that is
clearly outlined in CMS' Medicare supplier standards and guidelines for
billing and reimbursement. These rules should be clear and unambiguous so as
to avoid any question about legality, and government enforcers should have the
necessary tools to fairly and swiftly prosecute to the fullest extent of the
law where there is real abuse to the system.

The Council for Quality Respiratory Care is a group of the nation's leading
home oxygen therapy providers and manufacturers, representing nearly one half
of 1.4 million Medicare patients who depend on the home oxygen benefit for
their care in order to live in an independent environment. The Council was
formed to work closely with policymakers and their staffs to facilitate a
deeper understanding of the clinical, operational, and service-related
complexities associated with the provision of this life-enhancing benefit. To
learn more, please visit www.cqrc.us.

SOURCE Council for Quality Respiratory Care

Leigh Ann Bradley, +1-703-548-0019, for the Council for Quality Respiratory
Care