Medicare Plans Were Overpaid by Up to $5.1 Billion, Audit Finds
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Health insurers that offer private plans in the U.S. Medicare program for the elderly and disabled were overpaid by as much as $5.1 billion over the past three years, government auditors said.
The report, from the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, comes as insurers are fighting a proposed 2.2 percent cut in a rate used to determine their payments in the Medicare Advantage program. About a quarter of Medicare’s 49 million beneficiaries sign up for Advantage plans, in which their care is covered by insurers led by UnitedHealth Group Inc. instead of the government.