Medicare audits find $12Million in erroneous claims by dialysis centers

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 Published on FierceHealthcare (http://www.fiercehealthcare.com)
Medicare audits find $12Million in erroneous claims by dialysis centers
By anne
Created Aug 19 2009 - 1:23pm

The feds have found $12 million in mistaken claims filed by dialysis centers in West Virginia and Delaware, two hospitals in Pennsylvania, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas and duplicate billings for the Medicare patients involved, HealthLeaders Media reports.

These audits, which were done by the OIG, include a recommendation that the money be be repaid to the responsible agencies, and that providers make sure they keep their noses clean in the future.

Much of the wrongful billing came from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, which wrongfully billed CMS $11.2 million for post-retirement benefits for its employees. The OIG determined that the costs were not allowable because they were based on a retroactive accounting change made without CMS approval.

To learn more about the Medicare overcharges:
- read this Health Leaders Media piece http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/237703/topic/WS_HLM2_FIN/OIG-Audits-Find-More-Providers-Overcharging-Medicare.html

Source URL:
http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/medicare-audits-find-12m-errorneous-claims-dialysis-centers/2009-08-19