Medicare’s Plan to Hire 2,000 Auditors Appears to Be Stalled

The US government appears to be behind on its goal of hiring staff to audit private Medicare Advantage insurance plans for potential overpayments, casting doubt on how quickly it can clear a yearslong backlog that the new administration promised to tackle.

In May, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it would hire about 2,000 medical coders by Sept. 1 to verify the data insurers submit for payment in the government’s health insurance program for the elderly. This would be an increase from the 40 people the agency already had in place.

The announcement, part of a broader anti-fraud ...