Government assessors say up to 80 percent of the scooters and power wheelchairs Medicare buys go to people who don't meet the standards. The scooter argument, has escalated with a raid by federal authorities on The Scooter's Store's New Braunfels, Texas, headquarters and points to the influence TV ads can have on medical choices. Following peers in the drug industry, scooter companies stipulate that direct-to-consumer advertising coach patients about their medical discretion. Critics contend that the scooter spots nothing more than sales pitches that encourage patients to put pressure on doctors to prescribe unnecessary equipment.
The nation's biggest seller of scooters, the Scooter Store, said that most people who contact the company after seeing the ads do not receive a scooter.
Insurance companies say doctors who are lenient as to when Medicare is supposed to pay for scooters are to blame for unneeded purchases.
Medical professionals say scooter companies are just as aggressive with health professionals as they are in marketing to their recipients.
In 2005, the U.S. Department of Justice sued The Scooter Store, affirming that its advertising baited seniors to obtain power scooters paid for by Medicare. The scooter company then sold patients more expensive scooters that were unwanted or needed. The Scooter Store settled that case in 2007 for $4 million.
In 2011, the latest review available, government officials estimated that The Scooter Store received between $47 million and $88 million in improper payments for scooters.
In a January letter Medicare said that the company has paid about $5.7 million. Medicare said it accepted the fee based on The Scooter Store's own liability of what it owed, but that the agreement "does not mitigate The Scooter Store from any further liability."
Medicare, which says it can not control over how companies market the scooters, provided a program designed to reduce wasteful spending on scooters.
A program of government contractors in seven states analyze patients' medical documentation making sure they need a wheelchair or scooter before approving payments for the scooter. The Scooter Store has spent nearly $1 million lobbying Congress over the last two years, mainly focused on the Medicare review program. Authorities searched the company's headquarters.
The nation's biggest seller of scooters, the Scooter Store, said that most people who contact the company after seeing the ads do not receive a scooter.
Insurance companies say doctors who are lenient as to when Medicare is supposed to pay for scooters are to blame for unneeded purchases.
Medical professionals say scooter companies are just as aggressive with health professionals as they are in marketing to their recipients.
In 2005, the U.S. Department of Justice sued The Scooter Store, affirming that its advertising baited seniors to obtain power scooters paid for by Medicare. The scooter company then sold patients more expensive scooters that were unwanted or needed. The Scooter Store settled that case in 2007 for $4 million.
In 2011, the latest review available, government officials estimated that The Scooter Store received between $47 million and $88 million in improper payments for scooters.
In a January letter Medicare said that the company has paid about $5.7 million. Medicare said it accepted the fee based on The Scooter Store's own liability of what it owed, but that the agreement "does not mitigate The Scooter Store from any further liability."
Medicare, which says it can not control over how companies market the scooters, provided a program designed to reduce wasteful spending on scooters.
A program of government contractors in seven states analyze patients' medical documentation making sure they need a wheelchair or scooter before approving payments for the scooter. The Scooter Store has spent nearly $1 million lobbying Congress over the last two years, mainly focused on the Medicare review program. Authorities searched the company's headquarters.
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