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HRD-82-61 1 (1982-07-23)

handle is hein.gao/gaobabdng0001 and id is 1 raw text is: BY THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL Report To The Congress OF THE UNITED STATES Medicare Payments For Durable Medical Equipment Are Higher Than Necessary In October 1977, the Congress passed a law aimed at reducing the cost to the Medicare program and its beneficiaries for prolonged rentals of durable medical equipment, such as wheelchairs and walkers, when the purchase of such items would be more economical. Al- though final regulations were issued in July 1980, the Department of Health and Human Services and its paying agents (carriers) have not applied them, and excessive rental pay- ments have continued. At the carriers GAO reviewed for 1979, excess rental payments totaled about $2 million or about 21 percent of total payments for durable medical equipment. About one-third of these excess payments could have been avoided if the 1977 law had been followed. For several reasons discussed in this report, GAO could not conclude that the other excess rental costs could have been avoided. Although there is controversy over part of the regulations dealing with lease-purchase ar- rangements, GAO sees nojustification for the failure to apply other parts of the regulations, such as the requirement to purchase low-cost items like walkers, canes, and commodes. Z ,GAO/HRD-82-61 rn- JULY 23, 1982 (v4q la2?1

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