I don't understand why those walk-in tubs are marketed just to seniors

[csziggy]

22. The way they are sold on TV is a scam

In my opinion. The companies that push them and guarantee that they can get them for people with no out of pocket cost or they will give the chairs for free have got to be pretty sure they've got the Medicare and insurance racket down pat to make that claim.

I'm glad your father got his chair. Since I am currently (and hopefully temporarily) mobility impaired, I understand the limitation of not being able to get around.

Since I should be able to be more mobile once I get knee replacement (I see the surgeon on Monday to find out how soon) I don't qualify for a free scooter or chair, but currently I can't walk far enough to go grocery shopping. Last fall when I was planning to go to a seminar, I had reserved a scooter to lease for the week, but then found a used one on Craig's List for just over the lease price.

The guy who was selling the scooter used insurance to get it and paid nothing. He was selling it since he had just gotten on Medicare and they offered to upgrade him to a power chair. He was more mobile than I am - I couldn't keep up with him.

But there is more than just that one anecdote:

Justice Department lawsuit alleges Scooter Store defrauded Medicare
San Antonio Business Journal
Date: Friday, April 29, 2005
The U.S. Justice Department on Friday filed a lawsuit against The Scooter Store Inc. alleging the power-wheelchair distributor bilked Medicare.

The lawsuit claims The Scooter Store engaged in a nationwide practice of making misrepresentations to Medicare beneficiaries and their doctors about obtaining reimbursements from the government for power wheelchairs as opposed to less expensive scooters.

Specifically, lawyers for the government say the company was involved in a mass marketing campaign to sell equipment to Medicare patients. Attorneys say that once potential customers called the company's toll-free number, employees falsely told patients that Medicare would only pay for a more expensive power wheelchair.

As a result, Justice Department officials claim Medicare and Medicaid paid more for more expensive equipment than customers needed. Government attorneys do not have an exact dollar amount the government paid for fraudulent reimbursements. However, The Scooter Store has billed Medicare for claims worth more than $400 million since 1997, according to the lawsuit.

The Justice Department filed the lawsuit in federal court in San Antonio under the False Claims Act.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2005/04/25/daily39.html

Feds derail power-chair-scooter scam
Buyers got pricey model that insurance paid for
The Columbus Dispatch Monday March 2, 2009 5:51 AM

<SNIP>
Airing in central Ohio from 2002 to 2005, the ad DiBerardino and thousands of others answered touted the "power chair scooter," a term coined by Worthington businessman Michael Ross Cowen. The phrase describes a hybrid of two types of mobility chairs, a light and portable "scooter," and a "power chair" designed for in-home use.

The wording was intended to confuse customers into thinking they were getting a lightweight model and doctors into prescribing the larger, heavier power chairs, according to state and federal investigators.

Cowen, 51, made millions of dollars selling heavy chairs designed for people who are severely disabled to people who thought they were buying lighter chairs designed to help them get around. Last week, he pleaded guilty to two of 34 criminal charges in a Virginia courtroom. The former New Albany resident could face up to 15 years in prison when sentenced in April.

His Worthington company, Active Solutions, sought out the elderly and disabled, people such as DiBerardino, promising them that Medicare and Medicaid insurance would cover the chair's cost.
Airing in central Ohio from 2002 to 2005, the ad DiBerardino and thousands of others answered touted the "power chair scooter," a term coined by Worthington businessman Michael Ross Cowen. The phrase describes a hybrid of two types of mobility chairs, a light and portable "scooter," and a "power chair" designed for in-home use.

The wording was intended to confuse customers into thinking they were getting a lightweight model and doctors into prescribing the larger, heavier power chairs, according to state and federal investigators.

Cowen, 51, made millions of dollars selling heavy chairs designed for people who are severely disabled to people who thought they were buying lighter chairs designed to help them get around. Last week, he pleaded guilty to two of 34 criminal charges in a Virginia courtroom. The former New Albany resident could face up to 15 years in prison when sentenced in April.

His Worthington company, Active Solutions, sought out the elderly and disabled, people such as DiBerardino, promising them that Medicare and Medicaid insurance would cover the chair's cost.
<SNIP>
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2009/03/02/wheelman.ART_ART_03-02-09_B1_UGD356P.html

Feds, Medicare crack down on medical scooter fraud
By Kelly Kennedy, USA TODAY

Posted 7/12/2011 7:27:53 PM |

WASHINGTON — The federal government is cracking down on medical-equipment providers who either overcharge Medicare for motorized wheelchairs or obtain them for people who don't need them, Medicare and Justice Department records show.

Medicare plans to almost triple the number of anti-fraud strike forces it operates nationwide, from seven to 20, U.S. Health and Human Services Department budget documents show.

So far this year, Justice has won the convictions of 16 people throughout the country who have defrauded Medicare for $57 million, records show. Another six people are being prosecuted now for running what federal prosecutors say is a nationwide ring that has bilked the government of at least $30 million.

Records from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services show the cost of motorized wheelchairs to the government health service for senior citizens has risen from $259 million to $723 million, or 179%, from 1999 to 2009, the last year for which full records are available.

Advertisements for the wheelchairs, also called scooters, have exploded nationwide in recent years, as companies tout the improved mobility they provide and how Medicare, not the patients, will pay for the chairs.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/2011-07-12-wheelchair-medicare-fraud_n.htm

For those who really need a mobility device, Medicare has good advice:
Medicare's Wheelchair and Scooter Benefit
http://www.medicare.gov/publications/pubs/pdf/11046.pdf