Well, the government has done it again. When it planned the Medicare Surety Bond provisions to stop government waste in the form of cracking down on medical suppliers who are cheating the system out of money, the whole mess sifted down into a typical Medicare-style of paperwork disaster that is illegible, filled with double-talk, and completely impossible for the common man to get through easily.
Apparently, DMEPOS surety bonds are only needed by a certain sub-group of suppliers. Some professionals that prescribe medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies are exempt from filing a surety bond, while others are left in the gray-zone under ‘other persons’ with the secretary allowed to exempt them on a case-by-case basis – which of course isn’t happening yet even while all surety bond applications needed to be turned in prior to now to meet the required deadlines.
The very best words of advice that I can give everybody living in the gray-zone on the Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies paperwork disaster, is to pick up your phone and get to a real person that can explain department policy to you directly. As you are talking to this person and not getting the answers that you need, ask to speak to their supervisor. Collect names and department titles for each person that you talk to, and be ready to show this information after you follow their directions if something goes wrong.