Surety Bonds, Medicare supplier number revocation

Posted By: Kevin Matthews on April 20, 2015

Hello All,
Last week we had our Medicare supplier number revoked.  We are working to have it reinstated, but I want to let you all know not to make the same mistake we did.
We cancelled our surety bond since we were no longer providing shoes and inserts.  We quit supplying shoes over two years ago and finally didn't renew our bond, since we thought it an unnecessary expense.  We subsequently got a letter from Medicare stating we needed to reapply to medicare with the changes to services offered.  The letter stated we had 21 days to reapply with the changes or our number could be revoked.
My office manager called and spoke with the person that sent the letter.  The Medicare representative told her it was no big deal and that all she needed to do was submit the new application with the changes. My office manager got the on impression that there wasn't a time limit and that it was something she just needed to take care of.  That was a big mistake.  We subsequently got a letter revoking our number and the letter stated we could not reapply for two years.  The letter also stated that the revocation would be back dated to the date the surety bond expired in December.  The letter stated we could appeal and are in that process.  We are also staring at recoupment, backdated, and cannot see Medicare patients until it is resolved.

I subsequently was told by Zita Upchurch we needed a surety bond, even if we're not providing shoes.  Zita is helping with our appeal.
 
Don't let this happen to you.  Hang on to your surety bond, no matter what!
If anyone has undergone this process I'd appreciate any intel on how you handled it and how it was resolved.

A few days after we got the Medicare letter we got a letter from Texas Medicaid that said we needed a surety bond for each of our offices and need to comply by 6/1/15.  Now we need 3 surety bonds.   Kevin C. Matthews, CO/LO
Advanced Orthopedic Designs
12315 Judson Rd. #206
San Antonio, Texas 78233
210-657-8100
210-657-8105 fax
www.AdvancedOrthopedicDesigns.com
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