Medi-Cal Scammers Inflate Price of Stockings

I read “In Stockings, Cheats Are a Step Ahead of Medi-Cal” (Dec. 22), on Medi-Cal being overcharged by dishonest medical providers for compression stockings. Due to blood clots induced by tamoxifen, I must wear below-knee compression stockings at all times. Unfortunately, my HMO, Kaiser Permanente, does not cover the cost for them and refers me to its preferred provider.

From July 1997 to January 2003, I paid prices ranging from $65 to $72.92 per pair (discounted for buying three at a time) for eight pairs of Juzo compression stockings, thinking with each order that the price was inflated. When I tried to buy through Juzo directly, it told me it would not deal with individuals, insisting that I go through a middleman, even though I had already been fitted.

My question is, who watches out for consumers who must pay their own inflated medical bills?

Mary Motheral

Upland

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Thank you for uncovering this fraud and for printing this information. How much more fraud will it take before the state takes appropriate action to control Medi-Cal? A system without checks and balances is a system that is asking for crooks to take advantage of our stupidity. It is similar to the Medi-Cal scam of a couple of years ago, when numerous storefronts were billing the system for millions of dollars in medical equipment without having anything more than a post office box.

Since we can’t seem to control it, why doesn’t the state just say no to stockings or whatever else is being so easily abused? I am tired of crooks taking the taxpayers’ money and laughing all the way to the bank. It is articles like this that confirm my feelings that those in government are very poor managers of my tax money. And consequently, I think they should manage the dollars we already give them more wisely before they even think of asking for more.

Toni Parnell

Rancho Palos Verdes