Florida has announced a temporary moratorium that stops the enrollment of new durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers for the state’s Medicaid program.
Florida’s announcement on March 26 follows a Feb. 25 announcement from the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of a six-month moratorium on new Medicare DME suppliers.
The state’s Agency for Health Care Administration cited a crackdown on fraud as the reason for the moratorium, in line with the reasoning that HHS and CMS gave for pausing enrollment of new Medicare suppliers.
“The Agency is continually looking at ways to strengthen fraud detection and prevention strategies, and over the last year, we have taken intentional enforcement action to hold providers accountable and safeguard taxpayer dollars,” said Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Shevaun Harris. “This moratorium is just one example of the many efforts being put in place to curb fraud, waste and abuse in the Medicaid program and to ensure Medicaid recipients are able to receive care from high-quality providers.”
The moratorium will be in place “for an initial six-month period.” The Agency will process DME supplier applications submitted on or before March 20.
Florida’s current DME Medicaid suppliers aren’t impacted by the moratorium.
“No Medicaid recipients will lose access to services needed from DME providers,” the announcement added. “Should any recipient have difficulty accessing services, they can contact the Florida Medicaid Helpline at 877-254-1055 for assistance.”
