RESNA Member Night Scheduled for May 13 at RehabWeek
The member event for the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) will be held at Pinstripes Chicago — a bistro, bowling and bocce venue — on Tuesday, May 13, starting at 6 p.m.
“RESNA members and RehabWeek attendees will have the chance to take a break from the conference to have a night of camaraderie and networking,” RESNA said in an April 29 announcement. “There will be bowling, bocce, food, drinks and great times for members and non-members.”
Advance registration is required; no tickets will be sold at the door. The $10 fee covers food, non-alcoholic beverages, and games, with a cash bar also available.
BBB Includes DME in Latest Scam Warning
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has included Medicare fraud focused on durable medical equipment (DME) in its latest Scam Tracker Risk Report for adults 55 years and older.
“Medicare fraud has cost the American public more than $6 billion, and a large part of that is fraud around durable medical equipment, such as knee braces or walkers,” the April 29 BBB bulletin said. “By making repeated calls, scammers badger Medicare recipients into taking ‘free’ medical equipment. Then, they bill Medicare for it. By law, no one is allowed to make unsolicited calls to consumers about durable medical equipment.”
The BBB advised consumers receiving such telemarketing calls to “refuse and report anyone offering ‘free’ equipment, supplies or services in exchange for your Medicare number,” and added that Medicare DME suppliers “are not allowed to make unsolicited telephone calls or send emails to sell you equipment unless you’ve done business with them in the last 15 months.”
The agency urged consumers to report DME that arrives without their consent and noted the potential for a “same or similar” Medicare denial down the road: “If you receive an unnecessary piece of equipment but don’t report it, you may be stuck later. When the time comes that you actually need such a device, Medicare may not pay the bill for it, saying they already covered it years earlier.”
The Department of Health & Human Services additionally warned Medicare beneficiaries about urinary catheter scams last spring.
