Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), chair of the Senate's federal financial oversight committee, called on CMS officials to step up efforts to identify payment errors, such as by recovery audit contractors, according to a release from Sen. Carper's office.
The federal estimate of $47.9 billion a year in improper Medicare payments is "a lot of money, especially as we struggle with a massive federal deficit," he stated. "Medicare officials must quickly step up their efforts to identify errors and build upon these successes in recovering funds paid out improperly."
Sen. Carper also urged CMS to use the RACs' findings to tighten denials of improper payments. "Medicare officials need to continue to work closely with auditors to spot patterns in erroneous payments so we can take steps to prevent these improper payments from happening in the first place," he said.
He said he was encouraged by a steep increase in recoveries. CMS reported that from Sept. 2010 through March 2011, $237.8 million in Medicare fee-for-service overpayments had been recouped. "We have already seen more than three times the amount of money recovered compared to last year, and we still have six months to go for 2011," Sen. Carper said. "This is important progress, but more needs to be done."
Read Sen. Carper release on Medicare payments.
Related articles on improper Medicare payments:
CMS Releases First Permanent RAC Results
National RAC Program Has Collected $313M Since Launch
As Denials Rise, Hospitals Working Harder to Fend Off RACs