DME Supplier Settles Lawsuit Over Ventilators

Lincare Inc., a large durable medical equipment (DME) supplier with approximately 700 locations throughout the United States, settled a civil fraud lawsuit. The settlement resolves claims that Lincare fraudulently continued to bill federal health care programs for the rental of costly noninvasive ventilators (NIVs) when patients no longer needed or used the devices. The settlement also resolves claims that Lincare waived coinsurance payments to induce certain Medicare and TRICARE beneficiaries to rent NIVs. Under the settlement Lincare agreed to pay $25.5 million. Read a story from Compliance Week and a Department of Justice press release. A prior story about the company can be found here.

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