A Centers Medicare Medicaid Services surety bond is a license and permit surety bond required by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for all suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS). Suppliers generally will be required to post a $50,000 Centers Medicare Medicaid Services surety bond. Separate Centers Medicare Medicaid Services surety bonds are required for each National Provider Identifier (NPI) obtained for DMEPOS billing purposes.
Centers Medicare Medicaid Services bonds may also be referred to as Medicare surety bonds, Medicaid surety bonds, CMS surety bonds, Durable Medical Equipment surety bonds or Pharmacy surety bonds.
The purposes of the Centers Medicare Medicaid Services surety bond are to:
- limit the Medicare program risk to fraudulent suppliers
- enhance the legitmacy of the Medicare enrollment process and current suppliers
- ensure the Medicare program is indemnified for erroneous payments resulting from fraudulent or abusive supplier billing practices
- ensure Medicare beneficiaries receive reasonable products and services from legitmate suppliers
The Centers Medicare Medicaid Services surety bond requirement became a final rule in the Federal Register on January 2, 2009. Broadly, new suppliers must meet the surety bond requirement by May 4, 2009 and existing suppliers are required to comply by October 2, 2009. Certain suppliers may be exempt from the new requirement.
Alpha Surety is a nationwide surety bond broker offering all types of surety bonding. Complete our surety bond application to apply for a surety bond now. Or, for a free consultation about your surety bonding needs, please call 510-435-8425 or contact us.
