Tag Archives: Medicare

South Shore Hospital Overcharged Medicare

  By jellybellyhoo | March 28, 2011 - 7:43 pm |
Leave a comment

Auditors have reported that South Shore Hospital overcharged Medicare by around $341,000. The money will be reimbursed by the hospital.

WEYMOUTH —

South Shore Hospital is reimbursing the federal Medicare program for about $341,000 after federal auditors discovered nearly 250 billing or coding errors that created overpayments to the hospital.

The inspector general’s office at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sent a final report on the agency’s audit to the hospital earlier this month. The errors were discovered when auditors from the agency visited the Weymouth hospital last August and September to comb through records of claims from 2008 and 2009 that would be particularly susceptible to Medicare billing errors.

The auditors focused on a sample of 389 claims that could be susceptible to errors, and found 249 claims in that group with mistakes. The errors led to overpayments to the hospital totaling about $341,000 over the two years, the agency said.

South Shore Hospital spokeswoman Sarah Darcy said the hospital made internal improvements to prevent similar errors and… continue reading

Looking for Little Rock Social Security attorneys? Contact us today for more information.

Critz Tries to Protect Social Security

  By jellybellyhoo | March 27, 2011 - 7:42 pm |
Leave a comment

U.S. Rep. Mark Critz has offered an amendment that will help protect Medicare and Social Security. The amendment was made during Tuesday’s House debate.

U.S. Rep. Mark Critz, D – Johnstown, offered an amendment to protect Social Security and Medicare during Tuesday’s House debate on a stopgap measure to extend federal funding of government agencies through April 8.

The continuing resolution will expire March 18. Continuing resolutions keeps the federal government funded until a budget can be passed.

Critz’s motion failed by a vote of 190 to 239. His motion would have prohibited funds in the legislation from being used to implement a system that cuts Medicare benefits or privatizes Social Security.

“The folks I live with and live around come to rely on Social Security,” Critz told House members.

Critz is concerned that as more cuts are made to the federal budget, some may target Medicare or Social Security. He said that Social Security has $2.6 trillion in reserves and has not contributed to the federal deficit.

“Don’t buy into this crisis legislation,” he said.

Critz also used his time encourage… continue reading

Looking for a Little Rock Social Security lawyer? Contact us today for more information.

Medicare Lawsuit for Alleged Underpayment

  By jellybellyhoo | March 24, 2011 - 6:18 am |
Leave a comment

Several California counties and three doctors have brought a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services. The lawsuit states that Medicare has underpaid its physicians and is seeking $3.2 billion in compensation.

Seven California counties and three physicians have sued the Dept. of Health and Human Services for $3.2 billion, accusing the agency of Medicare underpayments to physicians.

The lawsuit claims that Medicare knowingly has used an outdated geographic rate system to pay physicians for more than 10 years. The formula has led to severe underpayments to doctors in some parts of the state while providing overpayments to physicians in other areas, according to the suit, filed Feb. 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

This is the second time the lawsuit has been filed. The court battle started in 2007, when seven California counties, including Santa Cruz, San Diego and Monterey, sued HHS. A federal trial court dismissed that case in 2009, saying the counties did not have standing to sue on behalf of doctors.

But a Sept. 29, 2010, ruling by… continue reading

Looking for Social Security attorneys in Little Rock, AR? Contact us today for more information.

Government Focuses on Prevention to Curb Medicare Fraud

  By jellybellyhoo | March 17, 2011 - 8:11 pm |
Leave a comment

Right now, Medicare fraud costs the government and taxpayers billions of dollars. In order to reduce the occurrence of fraud, the government is stressing prevention practices.

(Reuters) – Healthcare programs are moving away from “pay and chase” and concentrating more on prevention in the battle against fraud that costs the government billions of dollars, U.S. officials told Congress on Wednesday.

Overseers of Medicare and Medicaid are concentrating on preventing “bad actors” from enrolling as service providers in the massive federal programs that provide healthcare to the elderly and poor, Peter Budetti of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services told the Senate Finance Committee.

“Our goal is to keep those individuals and companies that intend to defraud Medicare, Medicaid and (Children’s Health Insurance Program) out of these programs in the first place, not to pay fraudulent claims when they are submitted, and to remove such individuals and companies from our programs if they do get in,” Budetti said in testimony.

Historically the programs would pay claims and… continue reading

Looking for Little Rock Social Security lawyers? Contact us today for more information.

More and More Texas Doctors Leaving Medicare

  By jellybellyhoo | March 16, 2011 - 8:09 pm |
Leave a comment

In 2010, the number of doctors who left Medicare reached an all time high. Doctors have become fed up with the declining reimbursements from the federal program.

Texas doctors fed up with Medicare’s declining reimbursements dropped out of the government-funded program for the elderly in record numbers in 2010, according to new data.

One hundred and seventy-two doctors formally ended involvement with Medicare last year, the most yet in a surge of “opt-outs” that has claimed more than 450 Texas doctors since 2008. Before 2007, the number averaged a handful a year.

“Those numbers show the growth in opt-outs is definitely a trend and that the system is dysfunctional,” said Dr. Susan Rudd Bailey, president of the Texas Medical Association, the state’s largest organization of doctors. “It’s a real concern that more doctors are being forced out of the system every year.”

Since 2001, Medicare reimbursement has been cut about 20 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars. TMA officials contend those cuts are forcing doctors out of the system.

The 172 opt-outs follow totals of 135 in 2009 and 151 in 2008, according to data compiled by the… continue reading

Looking for a Little Rock disability attorney? Contact us today for more information.

New Alaska Clinic Accepting Medicare

  By jellybellyhoo | March 15, 2011 - 8:08 pm |
Leave a comment

In Anchorage, thousands of seniors will begin getting care from a new clinic that has started accepting Medicare. Previously, seniors had to go without primary care because most doctors will not take Medicare.

Help is arriving for thousands of seniors in Anchorage who are going without primary care doctors because the doctors don’t accept Medicare, the federal insurance for people age 65 and older.

Providence Alaska Medical Center recently opened a doctors’ office for patients age 55 and older. Providence hopes its Senior Care Center, starting slowly with 200-plus clients so far, will eventually serve 5,000 to 6,000 of the estimated 13,000 seniors on Medicare in Anchorage who don’t have primary care health providers.

Medicare is welcome at this clinic.

Some patients said they feel welcome too, and not rushed. “It just blew our minds,” said Michael Carson, 73, a retired elementary school teacher. “The doctor had time to talk to you.”

Another patient discovered the clinic just as she ended breast cancer treatment, which was all handled by specialists. They kept asking, who’s your primary doctor? And she didn’t have… continue reading

Interested in learning about disability in Little Rock? Contact us today for more information.

Man Acts as Social Security Watchdog

  By jellybellyhoo | March 14, 2011 - 8:07 pm |
Leave a comment

A Virginia man has become a Social Security and Medicare watchdog. Larry Hyland wants to make sure the reforms are handled fairly and that regular people won’t be left out in the cold.

FREDERICKSBURG — When Larry Hyland ponders the future of Social Security, he doesn’t worry about the military bigwigs he met during his 36 years in the Air Force and civil service.

They’ll be taken care of financially.

It’s a different story for the bus driver who shuttled him to the Pentagon every day for the past two years.

The driver told Hyland that his company doesn’t have a retirement plan. All he and his wife can count on in their golden years is Social Security.

“We understand that changes are going to have to be made to the system,” Hyland said, “but there’s a lot of uneasiness out there because people don’t know what the government has in mind.”

The Social Security system faces a crisis as more people reach retirement age. Soon, lawmakers will be forced to make reforms.

In his new post as leader… continue reading

Looking for a disability attorney in Little Rock? Contact us today for more information.

Obama to Work With Republicans on Entitlements

  By jellybellyhoo | March 12, 2011 - 8:49 pm |
Leave a comment

President Obama has said he is willing to work with the GOP on federally funded programs. Obama says he is open to discussion on how to handle Social Security and Medicare.

President Barack Obama says he’s willing to work with Republicans to make changes to entitlement programs, like Social Security and Medicare, that threaten the nation’s fiscal health.

The budget Obama sent to Congress Monday ignores the view of his own deficit commission, which said that entitlement programs must be slashed.

Obama says he will have discussions on entitlements with lawmakers in the next few months.

Obama says he’s confident changes can be made quickly on Social Security in order to avoid slashing payments and making the program stable for this generation and the next. But he says making changes to Medicare and Medicaid will be more difficult, and said both parties must show they’re serious about tackling the… continue reading

Looking for Social Security lawyers in Little Rock, AR? Contact us today for more information.

Republicans Want Medicare Chief Out

  By jellybellyhoo | March 10, 2011 - 7:13 pm |
Leave a comment

Senate Republicans are asking President Obama to withdraw Dr. Donald Berwick as Medicare administrator. This is part of the Republicans’ effort to repeal the health care law by the President.

Republicans stymied in their efforts to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care law are taking a new tack: going after the official in charge of carrying it out.

Forty-two Republican senators have written Obama asking him to withdraw the nomination of Dr. Donald Berwick as Medicare administrator. That job carries major responsibilities under the health care overhaul, like setting up new insurance markets.

Republicans would need only 40 votes to block Berwick’s confirmation, and the letter signals they have more than enough.

Berwick, a pediatrician, is a well-known medical innovator. But Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah says Berwick lacks experience in insurance regulation and his past statements praising the British health care system mark him… continue reading

Looking for Little Rock disability lawyers? Contact us today for more information.

Many Medicare Patients Return to the Hospital Within 30 Days

  By jellybellyhoo | February 25, 2011 - 4:29 pm |
Leave a comment

A family in New Mexico is responsible for a $7,500 tax bill after their Social Security numbers were stolen and used to get jobs. There is an ongoing investigation, but no one has been arrested so far.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — One family said they are on the hook for more than $7,500 after a thief swiped their identities and used them for jobs.

Amanda and Andrew Munoz said they’ve done everything that’s been asked to help in the investigation, but with no results so far, their frustration is mounting. They said they are worried that their entire tax return will go to pay for jobs that they never worked.

“That money could go to our kids. To things they need, stuff they want right now,” Amanda Munoz said.

The Munoz’s said they expected to get back thousands from their tax return this year.

“They say we owe $7,555,” Andrew Munoz said.

The IRS said that Andrew owes thousands of dollars in taxes for work someone did all over the country in 2008 using… continue reading

Looking for Little Rock Social Security lawyers? Contact us today for more information.