United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2000-11-02 monographic deposited born digital 12 p. GA 1.13:GAO-01-114R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-114R P0b002ee180381ddc f:d01114r DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-114R machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-114R GAO-01-114R Fraud Program abuses Health care programs Health insurance Internal controls Contract oversight Medicare Program HCFA Provider Enrollment Chain and Ownership System Correspondence One of the first defenses against improper Medicare billings is the screening of applications from providers seeking to participate in the program. The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) operates and manages the Medicare program and, with help from insurance companies, reviews provider applications to determine whether providers meet Medicare requirements and if there is a reason to suspect that providers' future Medicare billings would be improper. GAO found that HCFA's current provider enrollment process does not completely ensure that dishonest and unqualified providers are prevented from obtaining Medicare billing privileges. GAO suggests consolidating provider enrollment tasks with fewer contractors to strengthen HCFA's ability to oversee these contractors and enhance the efficiency of the enrollment process. HCFA is implementing several changes to its provider enrollment processes that may make it more difficult for dishonest providers to enroll in Medicare; however, delays in implementing these initiatives will also postpone their benefits. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-114R/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-114R.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-114R/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-114R.pdf GAO-01-114R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-114R Correspondence GAO-01-114R; Medicare: HCFA to Strengthen Medicare Provider Enrollment; Fraud Program abuses Health care programs Health insurance Internal controls Contract oversight Medicare Program HCFA Provider Enrollment Chain and Ownership System Public Law 105-33