Federal agencies have cut wasteful improper payments by $17.6 billion dollars in 2011, fueled partly by decreases in payment errors in Medicare and Medicaid, according to an Office of Management and Budget news release.
These efforts are part of President Obama's Campaign to Cut Waste, which was started two years ago following an executive order initiating the campaign against wasteful payment errors. In the two years since the campaign was launched, agencies have collectively avoided making more than $20 billion in improper payments.
The 2011 savings were driven by several factors:
• The Medicare fee-for-service error rate fell from 9.1 percent in 2010 to 8.6 percent in 2011. Since 2009, the error rate has fallen more than 2 percentage points.
• Medicare fee-for-service avoided approximately $7 billion in payment errors.
• The overall error rate for Medicare programs fell from 10.2 percent in 2010 to 8.6 percent in 2011. Since 2009, the error rate has fallen nearly 3.2 percentage points.
• In addition, the error rate for Medicaid fell to 8.1 percent in 2011 from 9.4 percent in 2010, avoiding nearly $4 billion in payment errors since 2009.
• The federal government also recaptured more than $1.2 billion in overpayments from government contractors last year.
In light of these successes, the Department of Health & Human Services will launch four pilots to continue reducing error rates and improper Medicare/Medicaid payments. Under one pilot, the department will allow private recovery audit contractors to screen certain hospital payments before they are made, which will prevent improper Medicare payments from happening in the first place.
These efforts are part of President Obama's Campaign to Cut Waste, which was started two years ago following an executive order initiating the campaign against wasteful payment errors. In the two years since the campaign was launched, agencies have collectively avoided making more than $20 billion in improper payments.
The 2011 savings were driven by several factors:
• The Medicare fee-for-service error rate fell from 9.1 percent in 2010 to 8.6 percent in 2011. Since 2009, the error rate has fallen more than 2 percentage points.
• Medicare fee-for-service avoided approximately $7 billion in payment errors.
• The overall error rate for Medicare programs fell from 10.2 percent in 2010 to 8.6 percent in 2011. Since 2009, the error rate has fallen nearly 3.2 percentage points.
• In addition, the error rate for Medicaid fell to 8.1 percent in 2011 from 9.4 percent in 2010, avoiding nearly $4 billion in payment errors since 2009.
• The federal government also recaptured more than $1.2 billion in overpayments from government contractors last year.
In light of these successes, the Department of Health & Human Services will launch four pilots to continue reducing error rates and improper Medicare/Medicaid payments. Under one pilot, the department will allow private recovery audit contractors to screen certain hospital payments before they are made, which will prevent improper Medicare payments from happening in the first place.
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