It’s no secret that people take advantage of mechanized scooters. Walmart has an entire fleet on hand for shoppers who might not be fit to walk around the store, and last year a guy actually got a DUI on one after he took it out of the store toward the parking lot and kept going.
But it’s not just out in the world while drunk that the scooters pose a problem. The Feds suspect that The Scooter Store, the biggest purveyor of motorized scooters, has a racket going whereby they convince doctors to “prescribe” scooters to people who don’t really need them. Medicare or Medicaid then pays the bill—so the “patient” gets a free scooter and The Scooter Store gets a sale.
God knows what the doctor gets. But the US taxpayer ultimately ends up footing the cost, and the FBI estimates that The Scooter Store has charged at least $100 million for people who don’t really need scooters over the last three years alone.
The Atlantic Wire reports that FBI agents swooped in to Scooter Store headquarters in New Braunfels, Texas for a bust—search warrant in hand—and that its 1,200 employees were escorted from the building and not allowed back in today.
The FBI alleges that The Scooter Store has an entire department dedicated to getting people cleared for scooters who have been deemed ineligible by Medicare or Medicaid due to their fancy walking skills.
Of course, The Scooter Store does legitimate business as well—many older and disabled people need and greatly benefit from their scooters. But we’ve all seen those people riding around who you just know are totally fine.
The FBI has seen them too, and it’s damn sick of it. Watch out, scooter frauds.
[Actual Scooter Store employees above. Possible scooter frauds below.]
February 22, 2013 at 12:54 am, John Lebowski said:
You idiot. First and foremost that fat ass is sitting in a POWERCHAIR. The picture at the top, which incidentally does NOT contain any TSS employees, is a group of scooters. Get the terminology correct before you go spewing your BS. Maybe someone SHOULD take a harder look at the doctors first since they are the ones prescribing. We don't have anyone present at these folk's doctors appointments holding a gun to their heads telling them better write what we say or else. The doctors are mostly a bunch of overeducated pricks who don't give a crap about their patients anymore anyway. They herd them through like cattle. Schedule as many patients as possible so they can line their pockets. Try looking there if you want to nail someone to the perverbial cross. I'm so sick of everyone putting their two cents in when they don't know what the hell they are even talking about. Hope you or a loved one never need a powerchair or scooter someday like mine did. Shame on you for continuing to spread unfounded gossip. Just as bad as the sin of sloth as you've so aptly thrown into the title of your little article of lies.
February 22, 2013 at 6:58 am, Jon Odom said:
sounds like butt-hurt Scooter store scammer here in the comments section is out of a job. LOL!
February 23, 2013 at 6:35 pm, Andrew John Scease said:
I know people who used to work at the Scooter Store when I lived in San Antonio and they said that place was a total SCAM. That and there was a lot of extreme drunkenness after work, wife-swapping, and general hooking up amongst the employees. Par for the course for hypocritical super-christys of central Texas. I saw one of their after hours sales gatherings, at a local watering hole in New Braunfels (I don't know if it was an official company function or not) and it was a total sh** show. White trash. No morals whatsoever. They'll talk all their conservative "values" and then turn around and cheat the taxpayer and screw the next door neighbor. But it's all OK, because Jebus saves. Glad I moved away from their. Friendly people, but insular and racist as the day is long.
February 23, 2013 at 6:52 pm, Andrew John Scease said:
They "herd them trough like cattle" because the insurance companies that pay them only authorize enough for a ten minute appointment. Any longer and it comes out of the patient's pocket. Who says they don't care about the patients? You want to get angry, then get angry at scamming insurance companies. Let me guess, you're a Tea Party person? Look, Squirrel! So easily misdirected by corporate plutocrats who use you to protect their "job producing" tax breaks. Taxes have been reduced my entire adult life, and the disparity in wages has become greater and greater. Just look a chart of real income. The top 10% is a line up and to the right while the rest is a flat as the EKG of a corpse. You're being had and you just keep asking them to continue the con.
What, do you want undereducated doctors? Maybe we can just pray cancer away.
No one is against people getting scooters or power chairs, but people who don't need them shouldn't be defrauding the government. All you have to do to know something fishy was going on with TSS is to watch one of their advertisements on television.
There's so much wrong with your post I barely know where to stop.
February 23, 2013 at 6:54 pm, Andrew John Scease said:
And you know those are not TSS employees how?
February 22, 2013 at 4:13 am, Beth Bello said:
Scooter, power chair, electric cart….they are all more or less the same.
LOL!
March 12, 2013 at 7:00 pm, Shawn W. Orr said:
Finally….. Maybe I won't have to watch those stupid commercials with people spinning around in circles! Who didn't think this was a scam? A free scooter? Since when is anything for free! The taxpayer has been taking it in the throat on this one.
April 03, 2013 at 2:42 pm, Stephen Filip said:
Get off your fat as* and walk.
April 03, 2013 at 5:36 pm, Guy Pelletier said:
Steve, I work in retail and have seen this for years!!
April 03, 2013 at 7:06 pm, Stephen Filip said:
Guy – you enable these folks in a way by providing scooters at the store; but once one store does it, they all must provide them.
April 03, 2013 at 11:07 pm, Peggy Bushee said:
Okay but what about those of us who are really unable to walk. I walk whenever I am able but appreciate scooters in stores wherever they are available. It is unfair to " bundle" all scooter-users as lazy, etc, etc. I would love to have the complete use of my legs back.