The Trump administration is cracking down further on durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers as part of its broader push to root out fraud.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said Monday that it has identified 11 medical supply companies that it will block from receiving payments under Medicare Advantage or Medicare Part D. The agency said it suspects these firms were involved in more than $3.4 billion in fraudulent billing practices in 2025 and 2026.
These companies had filed no claims prior to last year, used improper billing practices to submit claims and billed for medical equipment for patients who were deceased, CMS said. These DME suppliers also supplied equipment to beneficiaries who either never received it or had not requested it.
CMS said it is working alongside the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General to ensure that these companies no longer receive payment under MA or Part D. Four of the suppliers included had already been barred from traditional Medicare, but then began to bill Medicare Advantage plans, CMS said.
"Brazen scams like these have plagued Medicare for decades, but under President Trump’s leadership and working with the White House Anti-Fraud Task Force, CMS is protecting the Medicare Trust Funds and its beneficiaries by using advanced data analytics to identify fraud networks and stop suspicious payments before the check clears," said CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, M.D., in the announcement.
CMS cited two "egregious cases" that accounted for nearly $24 million in claims. A provider based in Florida submitted $18.4 million in claims for catheters over two days, including $6.1 million in claims for 500 individuals on Dec. 15, 2025 and then $12.3 million for 777 beneficiaries on the 16th.
In a second case, a Texas supplier submitted $5.5 million in claims for orthotics. When contacted by CMS, six of the beneficiaries said they did not know of the company, had not ordered the supplies and did not need orthotics.
CMS also found claims submitted by this firm for nine beneficiaries with services dated after their deaths, and also determined that this supplier did not operate in that location.
All 11 DME suppliers put on the Preclusion List had submitted claims for beneficiaries that were discovered to be deceased, CMS said. In both the Texas and Florida case, CMS suspended the payments before they reached the supplier.
The Trump administration writ large has been focused on addressing fraud of late. In February, CMS said that a six-month moratorium on Medicare enrollment for certain DME suppliers avoided $1.5 billion in fraudulent bills.
That moratorium ended on Aug. 27.
As part of the Comprehensive Regulations to Uncover Suspicious Healthcare, or CRUSH, initiative, CMS is aiming to identify strategies to combat fraud across multiple programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program and the Affordable Care Act's marketplaces.