DHS Report Finds Medicare Paid for HIV Drugs for Dead Patients
Published at
Andregric/iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — The Department of Health and Human Services released a report on Friday that showed Medicare paid for HIV medication for more than 100 patients who were already dead.
The study was undertaken, the Office of the Inspector General said, because of “ongoing concerns about Medicare paying for drugs and services after a beneficiary has died.” Using their enrollment database, the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File and alternate death records, the OIG determined that at least 150 dead patients received HIV medication.
The study only looked at HIV drugs, which accounted for one quarter of one percent of all Medicare Part D drugs in 2012. The department says that the findings have implications for all such drugs, however.
“We recommend that [the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] change its practice of paying for drugs that have a date of service within 32 days after the beneficiary’s death,” the report read. That change aims to “prevent inappropriate payments for drugs for deceased beneficiaries and lead to cost savings for the program and for taxpayers.”
Follow @ABCNewsRadio
Copyright 2014 ABC News Radio