Improve the process for preventing, detecting and deterring improper payments and simplify how audits are conducted, stakeholders including providers and contractors told the Senate Finance Committee.
Five members of the committee – Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; Max Baucus, D-Mont.; Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa; Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; and Tom Carper, D-Del. –
released a report April 24 on the recommendations they gathered from soliciting whitepapers from 146 health care industry stakeholders.
The group categorized the recommendations into five topic areas – improper payment, audit burden, enforcement, data management and beneficiary protection – and four cross-cutting themes: coordination, simplification, education and duplication.
The committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicare and Medicaid programs, will examine the report further and “determine whether legislative action will be pursued,” according to Senate Finance Committee press release.