Medicaid

Rethinking Medicaid

UPDATED 16:58 PM EDT, May 13, 2013 | BY Phillip Swarts

The auditing arm of Congress is urging the government to revamp the way Medicaid money is distributed, suggesting officials target funds based on the demand, geography and resources in each state.

Currently, Medicaid distributes $300 billion annually to the states to help pay the medical needs of the poor and disabled under a formula known as the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage, or FMAP. Payments are essentially based on each state's per capita income (PCI).

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UPDATED 18:09 PM EST, February 15, 2013

Waste Watch

Congress' main investigative arm, the Government Accountability Office, has released its latest list of government programs at high-risk of waste, fraud and abuse, continuing a tradition of providing lawmakers with the report every two years at the start of a new Congress.

And most on this year's list are long-time, repeat offenders.

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UPDATED 7:07 AM EDT, March 20, 2013

Medicare's Grocery Card Giveaway

The Department of Health and Human Services has given qualified approval for a Medicare provider to give away $20 grocery gift cards to induce seniors to get more taxpayer-funded health screenings, despite concerns the promotion could run afoul of federal anti-kickback laws.

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UPDATED 15:19 PM EST, January 3, 2013

Medicare's Medication Mistake

The government office that oversees Medicare and Medicaid has reimbursed prescription drugs at market costs, instead of at optional lower rates that could potentially save taxpayers millions of dollars a year, a government investigation has found.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reimburses prescription drug purchases by beneficiaries through Medicare Part B.  The cost is supposed to be no more than five percent above what it takes to manufacture the drugs. 

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UPDATED 21:13 PM EDT, September 13, 2012

Day Late, Dollar Short

The Health and Human Services Department overpaid providers $8.4 million because it did not deduct late fees owed by Medicare and Medicaid providers, the agency's internal watchdog has found.

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UPDATED 21:34 PM EDT, September 13, 2012

Medicaid Mess

At least 10 states are failing to collect rebates from drug manufacturers required by a new provision in President Barack Obama’s health care law, an oversight that is costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars a year in the already burdened Medicaid program.

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UPDATED 15:05 PM EDT, July 26, 2012

Ripe for Fraud

The Department of Health and Human Services isn't meeting President Barack Obama's high-profile directive to reduce waste, fraud and abuse in government, failing to report all excessive or inappropriate payments from Medicare, Medicaid and other entitlement programs, the agency's internal watchdog warns.

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UPDATED 12:17 PM EDT, July 10, 2012

Fraud Failure

MIAMI (AP) — Private contractors received $102 million to review Medicaid fraud data, yet had only found about $20 million in overpayments since 2008, according to a new report by the federal government.

"Significant federal and state resources are being poured in but only limited results are coming out," said Ann Maxwell, a regional inspectorgeneral for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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