Multimillion-Dollar Mistake: Medicare Says Providers Were Overpaid

The federal Medicare agency, citing contractor errors, is seeking to recoup nearly $55 million from hospitals and other medical providers in Georgia and other states.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services told WABE partner Georgia Health News on Wednesday that the agency found 268,000 claims from hospitals, rural health clinics and other providers that were erroneously paid through the traditional fee-for-service Medicare program.

The agency said the patients served in these instances were members of a Medicare Advantage program, run by private insurers, and that hospitals should have been paid by those health plans instead.