HCFA: Will Boost Anti-Fraud Efforts
HCFA officials are expected to announce today a plan to increase oversight of the 56 private insurance companies that process about $175 billion in Medicare claims annually, in an effort to further reduce waste and fraud, the Washington Post reports. Officials expect the plan -- which will involve reviewing sample claims from each processor to measure how accurately claims are paid -- will help identify problem areas in the claims processing system and increase payment speed and accuracy. The initiative will begin this summer at four companies, which process roughly 50 million claims each year for durable medical equipment and supplies, and will be implemented at all Medicare claims processors within a year (Barr, 2/27).
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