WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley, senior member of the Finance Committee, and Sen. Orrin Hatch, chairman, today urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to recover as much as possible of more than $729.4 million in reported inappropriate Obama-era electronic health records incentive payments. A Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General report identified the inappropriate payments and provided recommendations to strengthen program integrity. However, CMS has not committed to recovering the estimated $729.4 million in inappropriate payments.
“If CMS is capable of recovering taxpayer money that should not have been spent, the agency should take all reasonable steps to do so,” the senators wrote to CMS Administrator Seema Verma. “If it is incapable of fully recovering the money, Congress should know about those limitations.”
Grassley and Hatch asked a series of questions on what actions the agency has taken to address the problems identified in the inspector general report.
“We recognize that the earlier agency comments to the Inspector General were written by officials from the last Administration, and look forward to working more closely with you in prioritizing the protection of taxpayer dollars,” Grassley and Hatch wrote.
The economic stimulus law of 2009 established the Medicare and Medicaid electronic health record incentive programs to promote the adoption of such records and to improve health care quality, safety and efficiency through electronic record-keeping and the exchange of electronic health records. However, government watchdogs have flagged numerous problems with the payments.
Grassley and Hatch asked for a response by July 31. Their letter is available here. The inspector general report, “Medicare Paid Hundreds of Millions in Electronic Health Record Incentive Payments That Did Not Comply With Federal Requirements,” is available here.
The Finance Committee has jurisdiction over Medicare and Medicaid.
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