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Report Seeks Review of Medicare Pay

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From Bloomberg News

Medicare overpaid specialty hospitals by $800 million in 2000 because the U.S. government wasn’t adequately screening payment claims, according to a report.

Medical centers specializing in psychiatric, rehabilitation and long-term care are paid differently than other hospitals that treat Medicare patients and weren’t scrutinized closely, the inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services said.

About 9.2% of the $8.7 billion in specialty hospital payments made by Medicare, the U.S. health insurance program for the elderly and disabled, were erroneous because the services weren’t needed or “reasonable,” the report said.

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The agency that runs Medicare has told contractors they may review payments to specialty hospitals, the report said.

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