Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Plus: Investigators found one high-utilization county for Medicare therapy dollars. If you've ever wondered whether the Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General collects on its audits and investigations, a new report answers that question, to the tune of $25.9 billion. In its latest semiannual report to Congress, which covers OIG activity for fiscal year 2010 (Oct. 1, 2009 through Sept. 30, 2010), the OIG recovered $25.9 billion, which included $1.1 billion in audit receivables. "Along with our significant work related to a variety of HHS agency programs during this reporting period, we are particularly encouraged by the success of our partnerships with HHS and the Department of Justice through the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT)," said Inspector General Daniel R. Levinson in a Dec. 15 statement. "For example, our HEAT Strike Force teams yielded 89 convictions and $71.3 million in investigative receivables in the [...]