OIG: Medicare Paid $25M for Illegal Controlled Substance Refills

Pain Management

The Office of the Inspector General found Medicare Part D in 2009 paid $25 million for Schedule II drugs billed as refills, although federal law prohibits refilling these controlled substances. OIG analyzed prescription drug event records and found some of the drugs were inaccurately billed as refills when they should have been partial fills, which is cause for concern. They also found 25,000 Schedule II refills had invalid prescribers and 75 percent of Part D sponsors paid for Schedule II drugs billed as refills, indicating sponsors do not have control to prevent refills.

OIG recommended that the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services work to prevent Schedule II refills and ensure accurate billing of partial fills. Also, they are calling for CMS to exclude Schedule II refills when calculating payments to sponsors and monitors sponsors to ensure valid prescribers are receiving the drugs.

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