WASHINGTON, DC – House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy (R-PA) today sent a letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt in their continued oversight of the Medicaid program. Upton and Murphy write, “Specifically, the committee is looking into why the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) eased its improper payment rate target for 2015.”
Upton and Murphy continue, “For fiscal year 2014, CMS reported an estimated improper payment rate for the Medicaid program of 6.7 percent, or $17.5 billion. This was an increase over its 2013 estimate of 5.8 percent, or $14.4 billion. Rather than looking to improve its improper payment rate, CMS raised its target rate for the Medicaid program from 5.6 percent to 6.7 percent for 2015.”
The Subcommittee recently held a hearing, “Medicaid Program Integrity: Screening Out Errors, Fraud, and Abuse,” at which the CMS witness, Dr. Shantanu Agrawal, failed to provide clarity about the decision to increase this target rate.
Upton and Murphy explain, “Even a small percentage of improper payments represent billions of taxpayer dollars.”
The committee is seeking documents and information from CMS regarding this decision and the administration’s enforcement of this improper payment target.
Read the complete letter online HERE.
– See more at: http://energycommerce.house.gov/press-release/committee-leaders-question-administration%E2%80%99s-decision-ease-fraud-reduction-targets#sthash.lM3qVVlM.dpuf