Washington
Posing as a government-sanctioned program, without federal permission, is against the law, the U.S. Office of Inspector General warned health care consultants and providers April 8.
To emphasize this message, the OIG fined the officers of U.S. Seminar $1.1 million for using the term “Medicare” misleadingly in marketing materials the company mailed to more than 300,000 health care providers.
“In many instances, you sent a series of three solicitations to providers,” the OIG told the company's president, vice president and sales manager. “The first of these mailings was a blue brochure describing that the solicitation was ‘formal notice of a workshop detailing local [state] Medicare changes.’ The solicitation refers to ‘Medicare Special Bulletin B-89-23’ and states that ‘compliance is required.’”
Follow-up solicitations from U.S. Seminar used threatening language such as “final notice” and “legally required,” and told providers to contact the company's registrar within 24 hours. “All of these solicitations could reasonably be construed to mean that [the company's] seminars are approved, endorsed or authorized by Medicare,” the OIG explained.
In a special “alert” press release, the OIG said that the U.S. government is prepared to punish companies that use government terms incorrectly. “The OIG takes action against those who violate this statute with such marketing practices,” the release said, explaining the formal process whereby the OIG will notify and investigate potential violations.
Rules prohibiting such marketing practices are not new, according to Asela Cuervo, senior vice president and general counsel for the Alexandria, Va.-based American Association for Homecare. Nonetheless, “the alert serves as a good reminder to home health and [home medical equipment] providers to make sure that their marketing materials do not create the impression that Medicare endorses their companies or the products and services that they offer.”
More information about the OIG alert is available at http:// oig.hhs.gov/fraud/fraudalerts.html#3, under the heading, “OIG Warns Against Misuse of HHS Words, Symbols, Emblems.”
For breaking news, go to www.homecaremonday.com, the electronic news service of the home medical equipment industry.
