U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Skip to Content

Department of Health and Human Services

Office of Inspector General -- AUDIT

"Review of Costs Claimed by Homebound Medical Care, Inc.," (A-04-98-01184)

September 22, 1999


Complete Text of Report is available in PDF format (1.29 mb). Copies can also be obtained by contacting the Office of Public Affairs at 202-619-1343.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

This final audit report estimates that Homebound Medical Care, Inc. was overpaid Medicare funds totaling at least $1.9 million for Fiscal Years 1995 through 1996 for services that did not meet Medicare reimbursement requirements. A statistical sample of 100 claims in each fiscal year disclosed unallowable payments for: (1) 128 services that were not reasonable or medically necessary; (2) 357 services that lacked proper physician authorization; and (3) 44 services that were not properly documented. We recommended that the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) instruct the Fiscal Intermediary (FI) to recover overpayments of $1.9 million, require the FI to instruct Homebound on its responsibility to comply with the Medicare regulations, and monitor the FI and Homebound to ensure that corrective actions are effectively implemented. The HCFA concurred with our recommendations.