OIG Reports CMS COVID Payments Compliant

WASHINGTON—The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recovered Medicare payments to providers under the COVID-19 Accelerated and Advance Payment (CAAP) programs in compliance with federal requirements, according to an audit conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG).

Why OIG Did This Audit

CMS disbursed more than $103 billion in CAAP program payments to more than 46,000 providers. This audit determined whether CAAP program payments were recovered in compliance with the repayment terms of the Continuing Appropriations Act (2021), the Other Extensions Act and other federal requirements. 

Due to the new challenges for the delivery of health care and human services presented by COVID-19, the OIG now oversees the HHS’s COVID-19 response and recovery efforts. This audit was a part of OIG’s COVID-19 response strategic plan.

What OIG Found

The audit found CMS recovered the CAAP program payments made to providers and were confirmed to be in compliance with the repayment terms of the Continuing Appropriations Act (2021), the Other Extensions Act and other federal requirements. At the conclusion of the OIG’s fieldwork, of the 100 sampled providers totaling $4.4 billion in CAAP program payments, the Medicare Administrative Contractors completed recovery from 97 sampled providers and continued the recovery from the remaining three providers.

What OIG Recommends

Based on the sample, OIG found that CMS recovered the necessary payments to providers and complied with the required repayment terms. Therefore, OIG did not have any recommendations to CMS.