Minor typing errors cost Medicare millions in overpayments

(By – Sarah Chavey, watchdog.org)

Medicare continues to eat up a growing share of the federal budget, but millions of dollars in spending on the program are due to waste and mismanagement. Case in point: in an audit period from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2012, the federal government paid $35.8 million more than necessary for outpatient drugs.

In the two years that followed, the Health and Human Services Inspector General estimates the government overpaid $11.5 million more. According to a recently released Inspector General report, the money was misspent primarily due to errors in entering code numbers and amounts for outpatient drugs. Read more…

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