DENVER (KDVR) — The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers about a Denver-based company after dozens of people complained their insurance was billed for medical supplies they never ordered.
As of last week, the BBB tells FOX31 it received seven formal complaints, 37 negative reviews and 10 scam reports all about the same company: Centennial Medical Supplies. The company says this is a big misunderstanding surrounding a change in ownership.
“I was pretty alarmed to see a $13,500 bill,” Kathy Strittmate said.
Kathy Strittmater walks FOX31 through what happened recently after opening a notice in the mail from Medicare.
“I noticed these charges from this company and they were $2,250 each claim times six claims for a total of $13,500 for bladder tubes for a catheter,” Strittmater said. “And I thought, well, I’ve never ordered that, don’t know anything about this company. So I immediately picked up the phone and called the Medicare fraud line.”
She said she called the fraud line around 8:30 a.m., reporting the company listed on this bill.
“The woman I was the third call she had that day with these fraudulent claims from the same company in Denver,” Strittmate said. “So Medicare was very aware of this company.”
The company has an alert on the BBB’s website.
“We have not been able to get a hold of them at all,” BBB’s Meghan Conradt said. “And what we’ve been able to find is that it’s a company that was sold in May or June of this year, and in June is when their new website was put up.“
FOX31 went to the location listed on the company’s website and spoke to someone who answered our knocks at the door. We also got an email reply from the address listed on the company’s website saying they believe this is “a critical misunderstanding.”
We asked for any documents to support this claim and sent a contact for the BBB.
“When these people are getting billed for equipment that they didn’t order, it’s running out their Medicare coverage or their insurance coverage, and then they’re usually on the hook for any additional costs that the insurance is not covering,” Conradt said. “And so it’s also a concern because usually this happens because somebody got a hold of their sensitive information.”
FOX31 reached out to a contact for Medicare in Denver to try to verify what the company told us, as we wait for the company to send us any supporting documents.
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