Senate subcommittee seeks probe of audit contractors

WASHINGTON, June 26, 2012—Members of a Senate committee that oversees Medicare have sent a letter to the Government Accounting Office asking for an investigation of MAC, RAC, ZPIC and CERT auditors.

The Senate Finance, Energy and Commerce, and Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight wants to know, among other things, how often overlapping audits of a single provider occur, and if there is any justification for them. The subcommittee appears to be concerned about duplicative audits that are costly and inefficient.

The bipartisan letter asks for a report on the activities, methods and coordination of audit contractors. HME providers have been struggling for years with multiple audits, and recently lawmakers have been expressing concerns about the process.