CMS announces pause on new durable medical equipment suppliers

STAT News · Feb 26, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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The Trump administration announced Wednesday a nationwide moratorium on new suppliers for certain medical equipment, citing a need to get a handle on the “fraud, waste, and abuse” in the industry that provides wheelchairs, artificial limbs and other equipment. “The amount of fraud is so massive that it’s easier to open one of these suppliers than to open a bank account,” said Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz during a press conference with health secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Vice President JD Vance about tackling health care fraud. The moratorium will not stop the distribution of medical equipment, but it does affect an overlooked but critical part of health care for seniors and people with disabilities. The devices and equipment include gauze, oxygen tanks, urinary catheters, and breast prostheses for postmastectomy patients. The decision to enact a moratorium came after an analysis of current and historic Medicare enrollment and claims data, according to a Federal Register notice. The affected companies — suppliers who provide durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies — make up just a miniscule portion of the agency’s $1.7 trillion budget, but the industry has recurring issues with fraud. In the past, federal investigations have found that Medicare improperly paid $34 million between 2015 and 2017, and $22.7 million between 2018 and 2024 to suppliers. CMS has used moratoriums in the past to deal with fraud in home health agencies and ambulance suppliers. The pause will last six months, though federal law permits additional six-month extensions. Oz did not offer specific targets that CMS hopes to achieve by the end of the pause. The federal health department leaders also announced a forthcoming CMS tipline to report fraud and a “temporary halt” on $259.5 million in funding for Medicaid to Minnesota.