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"We’re mad as hell.”

VGM Fraud and Abuse Reporting

Last spring , The VGM Group initiated it’s Fraud and Abuse website. In the April 2007 issue of HME News, the “We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore” page that featured an unhappy-looking group of real Associates exhibiting very defensive body postures and staring directly into the camera.

It’s a powerful message and it’s directed at two targets. The first is those few bad apples in the HME business that ruin it for the rest of us. The second is CMS and members of Congress who don’t take responsibility for their mistakes and won’t fix a flawed system. Instead, they try to paint honest, hard-working HME providers as the Bad Guys.

At VGM, we’re sick and tired of those nameless bureaucrats and the publicity-seeking politicians who seek to tar and feather our entire industry because of the actions of a few.

That’s why I’ve sent letters and e-mails to all VGM Group Members and several thousand non-VGM organizations that service Medicare beneficiaries. VGM is acting as a central point of communication for any HME provider - member or not - who wishes to report fraud. We’ll tell you how to make a report yourself if you wish. We plan to follow up on how these reports are handled. Of course we don’t have the power to investigate, so we’ll be depending on the agencies that are supposed to investigate and punish fraud. Our job will be to ensure that they do their jobs.

Operation Call Them Out began shortly after the HME News article ran, and you’re part of the “boots on the ground.” I know I can count on you to help.

Van G. Miller

• VGM Fraud and Abuse Letter From Van Miller
• Fraud and Abuse Explanation
• Senate Budget Committee discussion suggests continuing HME "scams"
• OIG Issues Report On South Florida Suppliers' Compliance With Medicare Requirements
• OIG Inspection Report: South Florida Suppliers' Compliance With Medicare Standards: Results From Unannounced Visits
• Senator Baucus Questions Agency Ability to Detect Fraudulent Medicare Suppliers
• March 30 AAHomecare Comment: OIG Releases Reports--Non-Compliance Drumbeat Continues
• South Florida Suppliers' Compliance With Medicare Standards: Results From Unannounced Visits