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.

Department of Health and Human Services

Office of Inspector General -- AUDIT

"Review of Vendor Rebates Paid to Hospitals, Option Care, Inc., Buffalo Grove, Illinois" (A-05-07-00045)

August 10, 2007


PDF FileComplete Text of Report is available in PDF format (337 kb). Copies can also be obtained by contacting the Office of Public Affairs at 202-619-1343.


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The objective of our review was to determine whether Option Care, Inc. (the provider) reduced costs reported on its fiscal year 2003 Medicare cost report by the $173,805 vendor rebate it received.  For the $173,805 rebate reviewed, the provider did not reduce costs reported on its 2004 Medicare cost report by $43,451, contrary to Federal regulations and CMS guidance.

 

We recommended that the provider (1) revise and resubmit its 2003 Medicare cost report, if not already settled, to properly reflect the $43,451 portion of the rebate as a credit reducing its health care costs and (2) consider performing a self-assessment of its internal controls to ensure that future vendor rebates are properly credited in its Medicare cost reports.  The provider disagreed with our finding and recommendations.