Conflict Investigation Needed for Medicare’s $106 Million Award

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid failed to assess potential organizational conflicts of interest before awarding MAXIMUS Federal Services Inc. a $106 million task order to provide reconsiderations of claims denials related to durable medical equipment, the Government Accountability Office said.

The agency should therefore investigate whether MAXIMUS’s performance would present an impaired objectivity conflict of interest or an unequal access to information conflict, and determine if it can act to mitigate or neutralize a conflict if one exists, the GAO said.

Rival C2C Innovative Solutions Inc., which submitted a $123 million bid, showed that the agency didn’t meaningfully consider ...