Review of Inpatient Medicare Crossover Bad Debts Claimed at Six Hospitals in California

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The objective of this review was to determine whether bad debts claimed on federal fiscal year 1999 Medicare cost reports at California hospitals, for which United Government Services was the fiscal intermediary, were for bad debts previously paid as part of a settlement agreement between the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the California Department of Health Services.  For the six hospitals reviewed, we identified four hospitals that had claimed $2.2 million in bad debts that were previously paid by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid under the settlement agreement.