Auditors find Medicare lax in collecting overpayments; New members named to Medpac

Federal auditors say Medicare failed to collect about 80 percent of the more than $400 million that were identified as overpayments, Modern Healthcare reports.

Modern Healthcare: CMS Overpayment Collection Efforts Faulted
Though CMS officials often tout their aggressive efforts at fighting erroneous and fraudulent Medicare payments, federal auditors have found that the office failed to collect about 80 percent of the $416 million that was specifically identified as overpayments in prior audits. Furthermore, auditors said the CMS couldn't prove that the 20 percent said to be collected was actually received (Carlson, 5/24).

CQ HealthBeat: Five New Faces At MedPAC
The comptroller general on Thursday appointed five new members of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission and reappointed the panel's chairman, Glenn Hackbarth. The independent commission advises Congress on Medicare and was established in 1997 to analyze issues including access to care, cost and quality of care. Gene L. Dodaro, comptroller general and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, said in a statement that the five appointees "bring impressive credentials to the commission" (5/24).