Medicare Improperly Paid Providers Millions Of Dollars For Unlawfully Present Beneficiaries Who Received Services During 2009 Through 2011 (A-07-12-01116)

January 25, 2013
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the federal Department of Health and Human Services investigated whether the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) was able to prevent and detect improper payments for Medicare services rendered to incarcerated beneficiaries. The OIG found that Medicare paid $33 million for services rendered to 11,619 incarcerated beneficiaries between 2009 and 2011. The OIG recommended that CMS develop stronger controls to prevent payment for services to incarcerated beneficiaries and that CMS seek to recover the improper payments.  CMS defines incarceration as any situation in which a person is . . .