Four of the top 10 companies in the $11.4 million business last year of providing power scooters, wheelchairs, prosthetic limbs and other medical equipment to D.C. Medicaid recipients have come under investigation. At least six other 'durable medical equipment,' or DME, dealers also are being investigated, including one suspected of selling a recipient a walker, then billing the government for a $13,500 deluxe power scooter. (Washington Times, Tuesday)
Economists call that rent-seeking.
FEE Timely Classic
Rent-Seeking: A Primer by Sanford Ikeda