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The Better Business Bureau issued a warning that a Denver business might be defrauding Medicare and its customers.
The BBB’s advisory, posted Oct. 27, reported that the organization received complaints from two people who said they received bills from Centennial Medical Supplies for products they never ordered or received.
Since Sept. 15, 31 people left reviews on the BBB’s website alleging that Centennial Medical Supplies billed their insurance for products they never ordered. Those who specified the products said the company charged them and their insurance for catheter supplies they didn’t need or receive.
The true number of fraudulent claims may be higher, since not everyone looks at their insurance statements carefully, particularly if Medicare and their secondary plan covered the full costs, said Cameron Nakashima, digital campaigns manager at the BBB.
“Scammers are hedging their bets on people not checking their statements,” he said.
Someone responding to Centennial Medical Supplies’ email, who didn’t give a name, said they would look into any cases of improper billing if they received the patients’ information. The BBB previously reported that the company didn’t respond to its attempts to resolve customer complaints.
“Thank you for bringing this to our attention. There appears to have been a mistake,” the email said.
Two people were working at an office listed as the company’s address in south Denver. The one who answered the door said she was hired to “manage the mail” and didn’t know anything about Centennial Medical Supplies’ operations. The office had only one desk, and nothing suggested that other people typically worked there.
The BBB’s research suggests a previous owner was less than diligent when deciding who to sell his medical supply company to, Nakashima said.
“It was a legitimate business at one point, as far as we can tell,” he said.
Billing for medical equipment has become a significant source of income for scammers. Generally, people committing fraud obtain legitimate beneficiaries’ Medicare numbers and other insurance information, and use that to file what look like real claims for catheters or other items. Insurance generally covers the claims, with the person whose information was stolen finding out only if they receive a bill.
In June, the federal government announced charges against 324 people allegedly responsible for $14.6 billion in fraudulent charges to Medicare for catheters and other medical equipment.
Billing to Medicare for urinary catheters increased tenfold from the start of 2022 to the end of 2023, with seven companies that had recently changed hands driving most of the increase, according to The Washington Post. A trade group representing insurers estimated Medicare may have wrongfully paid out about $2.8 billion over two years.
Federal investigators also announced arrests in similar scams involving back and knee braces in 2019 and COVID-19 tests in 2023.
Nakashima said he isn’t sure why catheters are popular for fraud now, but it could be because they’re a relatively discreet item. Someone else handling the Medicare beneficiaries may not know if they use a catheter or think to question it, he said.
The BBB advised people to check their insurance statements regularly for unexpected charges, particularly if they get their coverage through Medicare, and to report any potentially fraudulent billing to Medicare and their insurer. No one can entirely prevent becoming a victim of a billing scam, but being careful to avoid sharing your insurance information with people you don’t know reduces the odds.
Keeping your passwords updated and setting up alerts on your accounts can also help, since fraudsters often don’t need to ask individuals for their Medicare numbers, Nakashima said.
“Data breaches, unfortunately, are just a way of life these days,” he said.
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Meg Wingerter
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