Fraud and abuse helped boost Medicare spending on home health services 44% over five years as some providers exaggerated patients' medical conditions and others billed for unnecessary services or care they did not provide, a Government Accountability Office report out Friday says.
The GAO reviewed home care payments from 2002 to 2006, when spending reached $13 billion. The number of Medicare enrollees using in-home services rose 17% during that period to 2.8 million. via USAToday.com
Recommendations made included increased oversight, "criminal checks on home health operators and ...new rules to remove problem providers more easily".
GAO reports in the late 1990's questioning improper payments resulted in a drop in spending, but also an overreaction. According to William Dombri of the National Association for Home Care "There were bona fide people … entitled to home health services who couldn't find it."
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