ElderWeb

About $ 12 million was paid before the date of the beneficiary was entered into the system , but $ 8 million was paid even though the information in the system already indicated that the beneficiary was deceased. The majority of these claims were for durable medical equipment ( DME ). The OIG concluded that the Medicare contractors had insufficient procedures in place to track and monitor payments to deceased beneficiaries. The OIG recommended that post-payment review procedures be implemented by contractors , since payments made immediately subsequent to the death of the beneficiary may be processed before the date of death is entered into the ( www.elderweb.com )