Medicaid, Medicare Overpaid Billions of Dollars, Report Finds

Federal health-care programs continue to shell out billions of dollars in improper overpayments each year, a new HHS report shows.

Medicaid paid out nearly $98.4 billion in overpayments from July 2020 through June 2021, accounting for about 21.6% of total program reimbursements, the Department of Health and Human Services reported Monday.

The Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, had the highest overpayment rate at 31.8%, or $5.4 billion over the same period.

Payments that don’t meet program requirements for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are considered to be improper. While overpayments make up the vast majority of improper ...