HHS' Office of the Inspector General has found $125.2 million in improper Medicare payments made to inmates and illegal immigrants between 2009 and 2011, although that amount pales in comparison to total Medicare expenditures.
Prisons are supposed to pay for inmates' medical care, but the OIG's report uncovered CMS paid $33.6 million for 11,600 inmates in the two-year span. Medicare also paid for 2,600 unlawfully present beneficiaries in the same time period, amounting to $91.6 million.
CMS' 2011 expenditures totaled $549 billion, eclipsing the millions in overpayments. OIG recommended the money be recouped and systems implemented in CMS databases should flag ineligible beneficiaries immediately before the payments are disbursed.
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Prisons are supposed to pay for inmates' medical care, but the OIG's report uncovered CMS paid $33.6 million for 11,600 inmates in the two-year span. Medicare also paid for 2,600 unlawfully present beneficiaries in the same time period, amounting to $91.6 million.
CMS' 2011 expenditures totaled $549 billion, eclipsing the millions in overpayments. OIG recommended the money be recouped and systems implemented in CMS databases should flag ineligible beneficiaries immediately before the payments are disbursed.
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