Pandemic Delays Federal Probe Into Medicare Advantage Health Plans

Kaiser Health News is reporting that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has temporarily halted some efforts to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in overpayments made to Medicare Advantage health plans, so the agency and insurers can focus on patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Medicare Advantage plans are offered by private health insurers under contracts with Medicare, covering more than 24 million Americans, most of them seniors. Critics warn that the move is an "abdication of oversight." Some of these plans have said they will waive copayments for COVID-19 testing and care. CMS announced earlier that there would be a 1.66 percent rate increase for these plans in 2021. However, CMS audits are the tool used to curb overcharging by these plans, to which the government pays more than $200 billion a year. Those audits are years behind schedule, even as recent reports suggest that the government has overpaid these plans by nearly $30 billion in the past three years alone.