Thanks to a non-competitive bidding process, Medicare currently pays suppliers more than twice as much for penis pumps, aka Vacuum Erection Systems (VES), as the Department of Veterans Affairs and consumers over the Internet pay for these types of devices.
The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it is only overpaying for the penis pumps because the law requires it to... "Medicare prices for medical equipment prescribed by a doctor are set in statute by Congress," CMS said in a statement.
The inspector general found that from 2006-2011, the government spent $172.4 million on 473,620 claims for these penis pumps, and saw the claims spike during the six-year period. Taxpayers would have saved $14.4 million, and beneficiaries would have saved $3.6 million, during each of those six years if Medicare was paying standard rates.
The IG's recommendation? Establish a payment limit or seek legislative changes to include VES in the competitive bidding process.
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Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services:
"Medicare Payments for Vacuum Erection Systems Are More Than Twice as Much as the Amounts Paid for the Same or Similar Devices by Non-Medicare Payers"
http://oig.hhs.gov/...