New Medicare fraud detection system saves $115 mil

A highly touted new system designed to stop fraudulent Medicare payments before they are paid has saved about $115 million and spurred more than 500 investigations since it was launched in 2011.

Federal health officials who released the report Friday noted the projected savings in future years could be exponentially higher.

But the overall figures are minuscule compared to the estimated $60 billion lost to annually.

With the Obama administration and Congress desperately looking for savings to avoid a budget meltdown, denting fraud has the potential to save billions of dollars.

The $77 million technology system fights fraud similar to the way credit card companies scan for suspicious charges and freeze accounts.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Citation: New Medicare fraud detection system saves $115 mil (2012, December 14) retrieved 19 March 2024 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-medicare-fraud-mil.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Explore further

Feds charge 91 people in $429M Medicare fraud

 shares

Feedback to editors