State auditors in Connecticut uncovered a durable medical equipment scam in 1998, finding that three DME [1] companies routinely used the ‘miscellaneous’ code to bill up to $499 per item (billing $500 or more would have attracted attention). Each of the companies allegedly failed to maintain physicians’ prescriptions, failed to maintain invoices to support billing and billed for non-covered items.

Pamela Salerno Overton, David Salerno, their parents and Overton’s husband settled for up to $2 million in a federal lawsuit against them. Overton and Salerno owned the three DME companies: P&D, Merritt-Orange and Allcare.

The State disallowed 90 percent of the billings by all three companies as a result of DSS audits. David Salerno and Pamela Overton previously pleaded guilty to larceny in state court.

Source: Connecticut Attorney General Press Release [2]