Unwanted Catheters Billed to Medicare

Medical tubing with a gauge resting on a ruler marked in millimeters for measurement.

Retired nurse Linda Hennis is among more than 450,000 Medicare beneficiaries whose accounts were billed for urinary catheters in 2023, up from about 50,000 in previous years, according to a new report produced by the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations. Her Medicare statement said a company she had never heard of had been paid about $12,000 for sending her 2,000 urinary catheters. But she had never needed, or received, any catheters. Read a story from The New York Times.

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