$128 Million Duplicate Checks Written To Private Doctors Who Cared For Veterans

The U.S. federal government wrote $128 million worth of duplicate checks to private doctors who have provided care for veterans. On the contrary, this amount had cost taxpayers as much as $128 million in additional payments.

The U.S. federal government had written $128 million worth of duplicate checks to private doctors who have provided care for veterans from 2017 to 2021. In almost 300,000 cases, private doctors have been paid twice— once by the Veterans Health Administration and another by Medicare. Since 2020, there has been an increase in these duplicate payments when the program that allowed veterans to seek care from private doctors was developed.

According to Seitz, every year, around 1.9 million veterans receive health care from private doctors when a Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facility is too far or the queue is too long. These services are paid for by the U.S. federal government. Since 2020, the number of veterans who seek care from private doctors has reportedly increased more than twice.

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Investigation of the Duplicate Checks

An article in the Fox34.com states that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG)’s audit investigated $19.2 billion worth of Medicare payments. These payments were reportedly for 36 million enrollees who were also eligible for VA services. The investigation revealed that the Medicare paid $128 million worth of duplicate checks in almost 300,000 claims that have been covered by the VA from 2017 to 2021.

Furthermore, the investigation also revealed that the VA, Medicare, and Medicaid have not shared any information about the payments made to the private doctors. The agency does not also tell the providers to bill only the VA and not include the Medicare.

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