Surety Bonds

DMEPOS stands for Durable Medical Equipment prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies. The Centers for Medicare Medical Services (CMS) published a final rule titled: “Medicare Program: Surety Bond Requirement for Suppliers of Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies. (DMEPOS)” in the Federal Register of January 2, 2009. This final rule implemented Section 4312(a) of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and requires certain DMEPOS suppliers to obtain and maintain surety bonds on a continuing basis. Section 4312(b) requires that a surety bond be in the amount of not less than $50,000.

 

Enrolled DMEPOS suppliers, subject to the bonding requirement, are required to obtain and submit a $50,000 bond for each National Provider Identifier (NPI) by October 2, 2009 to the National Supplier Clearinghouse (NSC) since DMEPOS suppliers must obtain an NPI by practice location, except for select proprietorships. For example, an organizational DMEPOS supplier with 20 practice locations would be required to secure a $1 million surety bond.

 

DMEPOS suppliers exempt from bonding requirement are: (1) Government-owned suppliers that have provided CMS with a comparable surety bond under state law. The surety bond shall state the CMS is an oblige and cover obligations concerning claims, (2) State-licensed orthotic and prosthetic personnel in private practice making custom-made orthotics and prosthetics if the business is solely-owned and operated by said personnel and is billing only for orthotics and prosthetic, and supplies, (3) Physicians and non-physician practitioners if the DMEPOS items are furnished only to his or her patients as part of his or her professional service, and (4) Physical and occupational therapists if (1) the business is solely-owned and operated by the therapist, and (2) if the DMEPOS items are furnished only to his or her patients as part of his or her professional service.

 

Failure to obtain a DMEPOS Surety Bond may subject you to losing medical billing privileges, a suspended or revoked license to provide health care, loss or suspension of accreditation, a federal or state felony conviction, or exclusion from participation in a federal or state health care program.

 

These bonds are freely written based on good credit. However, we can get your bond regardless of your credit! Contact us at 760-747-8175 to discuss your individual bonding needs with one of our highly-trained surety bond experts. We will give you fast and friendly service!