Improper Medicare fee-for-service payments have declined by about $15 billion since 2016, CMS said in a Nov. 16 news release.
In fiscal year 2020, the Medicare fee-for-service improper payment rate was 6.3 percent, representing $25.7 billion. In fiscal 2019, the improper payment rate was 7.3 percent, representing $28.9 billion.
CMS said it is the fourth year that the improper payment rate has been below 10 percent.
The improper payment rate decline is due to the agency's effort to identify root causes of improper payments and implement action plans to prevent them, CMS said. Specifically, the agency is working to reduce provider burdens, proactively identify vulnerabilities and leveraging new technology.
"President Trump made a clear commitment to protect Medicare for our seniors, and to do that we must ensure that fraud and abuse doesn't rob the program of precious resources," said CMS Administrator Seema Verma. "From the beginning this administration has doubled down on our commitment to protect taxpayer dollars and this year's continued reduction in Medicare improper payments is a direct result of those actions."