6% of Medicare Providers Owe $2B in Unpaid Taxes
More than 27,000 health care providers -- or 6% of health care providers participating in Medicare -- continue to receive Medicare payments despite owing more than $2 billion in unpaid taxes, according to a Government Accountability Office investigation based on 2006 records. Acting CMS Administrator Kerry Weems said the agency is taking steps to ensure that providers have paid their taxes before they receive payments.
- "GAO Finds Delinquency by 6% of Medicare Providers in '06" (Hall, USA Today, 6/20).