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Medicare Fraud May Make Medicare Reductions More Difficult

Posted on Jul 10, 2008

Medicare apparently over $92 million in fraudulent bills since 2000 to medical suppliers who sent in bills home medical equipment. The billing was done under the names of doctors who had been dead for as long as five years ccording to reports of investigators. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) was advised of the problem approximately six years ago. It looks like the problem has not been corrected. In the past eight years CMS has apparently paid somewhere in the neighborhood of hlf a million of these claims.

The Medicare Fraud Strike Force came into existence last year with the purpose of solving the problem. It is estimated that this fraudulent billing costs taxpayers tens of billions of dollars every year.

I believe this issue of fraudulent billing makes it much more difficult to obtain reduction from CMS for thos injured in motor vehicle accidents. Medical bills related to injuries sustained in a car accident paid by Medicare must be reimbursed by the accident victim if they receive a settlement or a jury award in their personal injury case. This lien or right to subrogation or reimbursement must be repaid. It is primary. Medicare has the right to file a lawsuit to collect the money if it is not repaid.

This fraudulent billing appears to be wide spread. I suspect that it will become more difficult than it already is to obtain reductions in these lien amounts for deserving people who have been injured in automobile accidents.