Following up on its much-criticized October report that asked why criminals “are moving from cocaine to wheelchairs and walkers,” national public radio (NPR) made an attempt this week to tell the other side of the story. Among the revelations: “CMS finally admitted that they have not done anything [about fraud],” says Raul Lopez, president of FAMES (pictured), and manager of BayShore Dura Medical, Miami Lakes, Fla.

The surprising admission came from Kimberly Brandt, head of program integrity for Medicare. NPR reporter Greg Allen paraphrases Brandt’s comments as follows: “Kimberly Brandt…concedes that until recently, CMS didn’t actually look for fraud.” After that, the broadcast features Brandt’s voice in a direct quote: “Part of that had to do with our limited resources, quite frankly,” says Brandt. “In the past, perhaps we have not been as vigilant as we could have [been]…We have definitely recognized the need, and we have certainly the desire to make sure we’re giving that vigilant oversight in South Florida.”

A written transcript and audio clip of this week’s NPR broadcast reveals a continued heavy focus on fraud. “The reporter still overlooked our side of the story to a large degree,” says Heather E. Allan, executive director of the Florida Association of Medical Equipment Services (FAMES). “He still approaches it from the fraud standpoint and does not really present the counter arguments that he was given. The gem of the story is that she [CMS official Kimberly Brandt] admitted that CMS has not been looking for fraud.”

Lopez and BayShore owner Robert Mendia spent almost 2 hours with the NPR reporter at BayShore headquarters. While a lot of that input did not make it into the 5-minute story, Lopez is appreciative that NPR revisited the story, and that Allen took the time to tour the 22,000 sq-ft BayShore facility, and hear the industry’s side of the story. “We have been reporting fraudulent issues for well over 10 years,” says Lopez. “The reporter asked me: ‘Why do you think CMS has not done anything?’ I said I guess they were just waiting to get huge numbers so they could walk up to Capitol Hill and say, ‘Look, there is fraud is going on. We need more money so we can give all of our employees a $50,000 bonus like they do at the FDA.’ ”

Lopez thinks the NPR story could provide potent ammunition for lobbyists on Capitol Hill who have long complained that CMS did not pay enough attention to fraud. “Legitimate providers now have concrete black and white proof,” says Lopez. “We can now go to our Reps and Senators and say, ‘Look at what they [CMS] are saying. We have been reporting this [fraud] for years and years.’ I think it is a phenomenal lobbying tool.”

Michael Hamilton, executive director of the Alabama DME association (ADMEA) heard the broadcast, and thought it was a definite improvement over the previous story. “It has always seemed to me that CMS just tried to estimate the amount stolen, so as to reduce allowable charges by an equal or greater amount,” says Hamilton. “They certainly have never devoted assets to relatively small thieves, but you would think they could program the claims processing software to do better than to pay millions in claims for items that have never gotten past a few thousand dollars per year in the past.”