WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US healthcare program Medicaid lost $17.5 billion to widespread fraud in Fiscal Year 2014, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report said.
“The program's size and diversity make it vulnerable to improper payments. Improper payments, such as payments for non-covered services, totalled an estimated $17.5 billion in fiscal year 2014,” the report, issued on Thursday, said.
Medicaid is a US federal healthcare program for families and individuals with low income and limited resources.
The GAO said the $17.5 billion figure was reported by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees the administration of Medicaid.
The report said the HHS had to improve its relations with the individual US states to ensure a more effective running of the program.
“An effective federal-state partnership is key to ensuring the most appropriate use of funds,” the report stated.
HHS had to work with the state governments to set appropriate payment rates for managed care organizations, and to ensure only eligible individuals and providers participate in Medicaid, the GAO said.
“GAO has made over 80 recommendations regarding Medicaid, some of which HHS has implemented,” the report acknowledged.
However, it also pointed out that the GAO “has highlighted 24 key recommendations that have not been implemented.”
The US Government Accountability Office is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars.
