The OIG last week issued a fraud alert reminding DME suppliers that they are prohibited under Medicare law from directly or indirectly making unsolicited telephone calls to Medicare beneficiaries with the purpose of furnishing Medicare-covered items, unless one of three exceptions is met. These exceptions include situations in which (i) a beneficiary has given written permission to the DME supplier to contact the beneficiary by telephone; (ii) the phone call is in relation to an item that the DME supplier has already supplied the beneficiary; or (iii) the DME supplier has provided at least one covered item to the beneficiary during the preceding fifteen months. The prohibition prevents DME suppliers from hiring independent marketing firms to make these prohibited marketing telephone calls; i.e., DME suppliers are not allowed to do indirectly what the law prevents them from doing directly. Claims for payment that are generated by prohibited solicitation can result in both the DME supplier and the telemarketer being liable for civil, criminal, and administrative penalties for causing the filing of a false claim.

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