Medicare: High Spending Growth Calls for Aggressive Action (Testimony,
02/06/95, GAO/T-HEHS-95-75).

The government faces strong obstacles to bringing Medicare expenditures
under control.  Broad-based payment system reforms have slowed overall
spending, but Medicare growth rates remain higher than overall
inflation.  And although more reforms may be needed, their nature is the
subject of much debate.  There is less dispute, however, that Medicare
pays too much for some services and supplies.  Fiscal pressures have led
private and state-government payers increasingly to negotiate discounts
with providers and to manage the form and the volume of care. Medicare
has not exercised its potential market power in similar fashion when
buying some services, such as rehabilitation therapy.  GAO suggests that
the government change the reimbursement policies for these excessively
costly services to ensure that it is acting as a prudent buyer.  Also,
greater vigilance over wasteful or inappropriate payments could better
protect Medicare against fraudulent and abusive billings from providers.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  T-HEHS-95-75
     TITLE:  Medicare: High Spending Growth Calls for Aggressive Action
      DATE:  02/06/95
   SUBJECT:  Medicare programs
             Fraud
             Overpayments
             Program abuses
             Health care cost control
             Claims processing
             Human resources utilization
             Budget cuts
             Medical expense claims
             Medical services rates
IDENTIFIER:  MRI
             Magnetic Resonance Imaging
             HCFA Medicare Transaction System
             
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