A new inspector general’s audit reports that in 2011, Medicare paid $23 million to 17,403 deceased people. The payments could have been the result of fraudulent claims from people taking on the identities of the deceased, or they could have occurred because there was no date of death on the deceased beneficiary’s file, causing the Medicare payments to continue as normal.
The report says that 58% of the payments were under $1,000, but 12 were over $50,000 and two were over $100,000. The inspector general is encouraging better systems for preventing fraud, and staying on top of claims filed after the person’s date of death.
Another audit released this week shows that Medicare benefits totaling $29 million went to illegal U.S. residents between 2009 and 2011. In response to that report, administrator of The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said: “We agree that in cases where the information indicates an individual is not lawfully present in the United States, that individual should not be permitted to enroll or to remain enrolled in a Part D plan during the period where he or she is not eligible to receive federal benefits.”
