Medicare officers are pushing again in opposition to a federal watchdog’s name to crack down on residence visits by Medicare Benefit well being plans — a observe the watchdog says could waste billions of tax {dollars} yearly.
In late October, a Well being and Human Companies inspector common audit discovered that the insurers pocketed $7.5 billion in 2023 from diagnosing well being situations that prompted no medical providers — about $4.2 billion of it by means of the well being assessments carried out in sufferers’ houses.
Assistant Inspector Normal Erin Bliss informed me the plans are raking in billions of {dollars} with out offering any therapy for medical situations the plans flagged throughout the visits, together with severe ailments equivalent to diabetes and main melancholy.
However the energy to curb billing tied to residence visits rests with regulators on the Facilities for Medicare and Medicaid Companies, who seem unmoved by the OIG’s criticism.
In an announcement to KFF Well being Information by spokesperson Alexx Pons, CMS mentioned it “appreciates the OIG’s evaluate on this space” and can hold finding out the problem.
In a proper response revealed within the audit report, CMS mentioned it disagreed with the watchdog’s name to limit use of residence well being assessments in computing how a lot to pay well being plans. Individuals on Medicare “ought to have entry to care that’s appropriately offered within the residence setting,” CMS wrote.
That’s simply superb with the insurance coverage business. The OIG drew “inaccurate conclusions,” mentioned Heather Soule, a spokesperson for UnitedHealthcare. The insurer is the most important Medicare Benefit contractor and accounted for about two-thirds of the funds tied to residence visits and associated knowledge mining of affected person information cited within the audit.
The house visits are “among the many most complete and thorough assessments of a affected person’s well being and bodily setting out there within the health-care system, serving to to establish and drive wanted follow-on look after the overwhelming majority of the sufferers with whom we interact,” Soule mentioned within the assertion.
Medicare Benefit plans serve greater than 33 million Individuals, greater than half of the individuals eligible for Medicare.
Authorities spending on this system, which is dominated by a handful of personal medical health insurance firms, is anticipated to hit $462 billion this yr. The business argues that most Medicare Benefit enrollees are happy with the care they obtain and usually pay much less out-of-pocket than these enrolled in unique Medicare.
However critics of this system level to years and years of federal audits, whistleblower lawsuits and different investigations revealing that many well being plans exaggerate how sick sufferers are to spice up their funds.
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