Washington Free Beacon reporter Liz Harrington appeared on the Fox Business Network on Wednesday to discuss her story about Medicare abuse for power wheelchairs.
Harrington reported Monday that the Hoveround wheelchair company billed the federal government for thousands of power wheelchairs without proving they were medically necessary for the consumer, as it was required to do. A government audit determined that Hoveround billed the taxpayer for $27 million worth of claims for medically-unnecessary wheelchairs.
Transcript below:
ASHLEY WEBSTER: A new audit of the Health and Human Services Department finding taxpayer money being misused. How much? $27 million spent for medically-unnecessary Hoveround wheelchairs. Joining us now is Liz Harrington who broke the story for the Washington Free Beacon. How on Earth is this possible?
LIZ HARRINGTON: Hoveround likes to say that nine out of 10 of its customers pay little or nothing for their wheelchairs. It turns out that is because you and I are the ones paying for it. Hoveround goes to Medicare, files claims for all the wheelchairs that customers are buying. They are supposed to prove that they are medically necessary. A doctor is supposed to sign off on it, that they can't use a regular wheelchair or a walker, that they have to use a power wheelchair. It turns out they are not doing that, to the tune of $27 million. That is just in one year alone.
WEBSTER: It seems to me that everyone is at fault. They applied for these things when they shouldn't have done, but they were also approved.
HARRINGTON: Right. It is really on the government to make sure that the company is following the rules. Health and Human Services signed off on this through Medicare. So the company should have made sure that the wheelchairs that they are selling are legitimate for medical use. But it's also on the government. If they aren't following the rules it's the government that is paying, and really us to the tune of $27 million.
WEBSTER: Yikes. The inspector general commended that Hoveround should repay the government for $27 million. How likely is that?
HARRINGTON: There's no sign yet that they are going to repay it, it's just the inspector general who has recommended that. Hoveround has contested the findings. They said they were not told they had to turn over all the medical documents. It remains to be seen if they will fight this and whether or not the taxpayers will get their money back.
WEBSTER: I will not hold my breath, but it is a great story. Thank you so much.