Are Surety Bonds the Next Weapon to Fight Medicare Fraud and Abuse?

Medicare is overpaying tens of millions of dollars each year to durable medical equipment suppliers, and a group of U.S. senators are looking at surety bonds as the way to get that money back in the future, according to The Hill blog.

Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Tom Carper (D-Del.), and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), members of the Senate Finance Committee, called upon the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to require suppliers to carry larger cash reserves or purchase surety bonds equal to the amount they have been reimbursed by Medicare. The bi-partisan group of senators were responding to a recent report by HHS’s Office of Inspector General that recommended greater use of surety bonds.

According to The Hill, suppliers must carry at least $50,000 in surety bonds by law, but that amount is often far below what they have been overpaid by Medicare. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act now permits HHS the authority to increase that surety bond limit.