Billing Mistakes Cost Medicare $11.6 billion, US says

Billing mistakes cost the U.S. Medicare program $11.6 billion in improper payments in fiscal 2003, the U.S. government reported on Friday.

The figure was estimated from surveys of about 128,000 claims paid to contractors for Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly and disabled.

Improper payments included those for claims found to be medically unnecessary, inadequately documented or improperly coded.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the overall error rate was estimated to be 5.8 percent, about the same as the previous year.

This year’s calculation was based on an expanded survey to help officials better assess and correct problems, the agency said.

“The information we now have available will help us to better understand the problem, better manage the program and better educate providers and contractors to prevent errors in payment,” CMS Administrator Tom Scully said in a statement.

“Our goal is to bring about a dramatic reduction in the Medicare payment errors in the next 24 months,” he added.