Report Highlights Concerns of Fraudulent Medicare Billing
Over the past 10 years, physicians and other health care providers increasingly have billed Medicare for more complicated and costly treatments, prompting questions about Medicare billing fraud, according to a Center for Public Integrity report. The report -- which analyzed 362 million claims between 2001 and 2010 -- found that many providers used a process known as "upcoding" or "code creep" to bill Medicare for more costly services than were actually delivered. It found that providers added at least $11 billion to their fees during the study period.
- "Doctors, Others Billing Medicare at Higher Rates" (Schulte et al., Washington Post, 9/15).