Dallas Residents Speak Out About Health Care Troubles

DALLAS, Texas (Dec. 3, 2013)—A new video produced by People for Quality Care, an organization dedicated to ensuring quality, innovation, and service for Medicare beneficiaries, features Dallas-area residents with disabilities currently fighting for the wheelchairs and supplies they need to live life to the fullest. Recently implemented Medicare rules have created extremely tedious documentation regulations that are difficult for physicians, therapists, and providers to follow. These rigorous regulations are designed to reduce fraud and abuse in the system, but Medicare has taken limited steps to educate the medical community about these rules, and in practice they create significant challenges for Medicare patients and the providers they work with. A very small error on 120 pages of documentation can cause denial of payment for up to 3 years, so either patients must go without the equipment they need, or providers are forced to provide equipment and services without being reimbursed by Medicare for an indefinite amount of time. Those patients featured in the video are customers of Mobility Medical Equipment, Inc., of Dallas, which has operated at a loss when Medicare delays payment for equipment and services, and filled in gaps that illogical Medicare policies have left. Many Medicare patients across the country are not so lucky. These Dallas-area residents were hopeful that by speaking out about their experiences with the troubled Medicare system, they might help affect change nationwide. Click here to watch the video.