Political Quotes

“I rise today on behalf of patients, practitioners and the American taxpayer to introduce the Medicare Orthotics and Prosthetics Improvement Act of 2012 with my colleagues, Senators Snowe and Grassley. The current orthotics and prosthetics, O&P, market is ripe for fraud and abuse. Unqualified and dishonest practitioners are taking advantage of patients and Medicare by providing substandard O&P products and manipulating the Medicare payment system. No rule has been implemented on the Federal level which would require these practitioners and providers to be licensed or accredited, despite calls from Congress to do so, and therefore all comers are able to bill Medicare on the taxpayer's dime. Congress and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have tried to address this issue in the past, but have come up short. In both 2000 and 2003, Congress passed legislation which should have increased the qualification standards for these providers. Unfortunately, nothing came of these efforts and a decade later we have a system in place that does little to discourage fraud and abuse in these fields. One department, however, has stepped up and taken the lead on this issue: the Department of Veterans Affairs. After a program evaluation showed that VA O&P Laboratories did not meet quality standards they changed their policy so that only accredited laboratories and individuals may fabricate prostheses and orthoses.…”