Lawmakers Question OIG Survey Process

In an Aug. 23 letter to HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, Reps. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., and David Hobson, R-Ohio, questioned the survey process the HHS OIG used in its report detailing 2002 Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan (FEHBP) median pricing for DME. The letter asked whether the data set from the 30 federal employee health plans the OIG surveyed is a representative sample of Medicare patients that use DME. Currently there are more than 200 federal health plans. The report, in conjunction with a separate OIG report on oxygen, is to be used as a basis for DME reimbursements in 2005 as mandated by MMA.