The OIG adds CMS overpayment collections to its Work Plan

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) will be scrutinizing how CMS collects overpayments, the agency stated in a recent update to its Work Plan.

Although the OIG conducts audits related to Medicare payments, CMS is responsible for collecting overpayments identified and agreed upon in the OIG’s audit reports. However, the OIG is looking to collect data to determine how CMS goes about collecting the funds.

This isn’t the first time the OIG has voiced concerns about CMS’ ability to recapture overpayments. In a 2012 OIG report, Obstacles to Collection of Millions in Medicare Overpayments, the OIG found that as of October 2010 CMS had not collected the majority overpayments the OIG had identified in 2007-2008 and the first six months of 2009. To make matters worse, CMS was not able to verify that it had actually collected the amount it said it had collected.

More recently, the OIG reviewed overpayment collections for 2014-2016. During that period, the OIG identified $648 million in overpayments, and CMS agreed to collect $566 million. Using that data, the OIG will investigate whether CMS collected the agreed-upon amount and whether CMS has followed the corrective actions the OIG recommended in its 2012 report on CMS overpayments collections.