For the record I have still not received any response to my letter to Secretary Aldona Vos, or Governor Pat McCrory. The letter was mailed on April 24, 2014.
My last few posts were focused on Dr. Larry Joe Russell and his Medicare billing practices. The reason for that is the newly released numbers, posted by the CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services). According to CMS the reason they are posting these numbers is so people can find and report Medicare fraud. Seems like a great idea, if they actually intend to take any complaints serious.
My first encounter with CMS was almost two years ago. I was referred to them by then Congressman Heath Shuler's office. The initial reply from CMS starts with how they appreciate concerned citizens who report Medicare fraud. Then it goes on to tell how seriously they take these allegations. When you look at the amount of taxpayer dollars spent on Medicare, they should be taken serious. That letter was from Alfreda Walker out of the Atlanta office of CMS. The letter goes on to say that I will be contacted directly by someone from their office. It also says that I will be contacted by someone from a State agency, concerning Medicaid. Four months went by an I never heard from anyone.
I contacted the Congressman's office and apparently somebody dropped the ball. Turns out it never left Ms. Walkers office. My phone call made something happen, but I'm not sure what. The next communication I received was from NCI Advancemed. The letter I got stated that they had completed their investigation and appropriate action had been taken. I called the number on the letter and spoke to Shannon Stinedurf, the one who had signed the letter. I asked her what action had been taken. Her reply was " there was no action taken, we didn't find anything wrong ". This prompted me to contact Ms. Walker again. She explained that NCI Advancemed was the contractor that handled Medicare fraud investigations. I asked her how they had conducted an investigation without ever contacting me for my information. Ms Walker failed to explain how this was possible. Then she told me that the "quality of care issue was being handled by the Carolina Centers for Medical Excellence, another contractor. She gave me a number to contact them, but it wasn't the right number. After a couple of emails to the CMS, I finally got a number that worked.
I then Called the CCME , and spoke to a representative that listened to my story. The representative seemed to think that there were several issues of concern in what I told her. She said she would pass things on to someone who would conduct a review. It only took a week or so, and I received the letter saying they did not find anything wrong. I tried to contact the first person I had spoken to, and could not get her on the phone. Things were getting more and more confusing.
Both the CCME and NCI Advancemed were government contractors, and both conducted their " investigations " in record time. Neither of them contacted me for any information nor did they seem to be concerned with what I had told them. Being the persistent person that I am, the next step was to call NCI Advancemed and start the move up the chain of command. I finally ended up with Norma Elder, who informed me that they had never been contacted by CMS, Congressman Shulers office or me. They got their information from the NCDMA ( North Carolina Division of Medical Assistance ). The NCDMA got their information from a complaint I had made with the NC Medical Board.
All of these different agencies had done nothing till my call to Congressman Shuler's office. Then they all seemed to find nothing wrong at the same time. I am convinced that someone with serious influence is controlling how this turns out.
If this seems confusing to you, welcome to the club. I have never been politically active, nor have I ever been so disappointed in the United States government. It seems that our government has decided that they are so incompetent they have to use contractors. It would not be surprising to know that the same contractors are owned by politicians and their family members. Probably the same people who own nursing home groups.
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