Millions of NJ Medicaid dollars were misspent. How much did honest doctors return?
Over the last four years, the State Comptroller's Office has helped recover $73 million in improper Medicaid payments to New Jersey doctors, hospitals, nursing homes and other health care providers.
Some of it involved legitimate billing errors uncovered in audits. Some of it was outright fraud. And some of it was found because of providers simply being honest.
More than $7.9 million in improper Medicaid payments was reported by 70 providers to the State Comptroller's Office from 2019 to 2023, officials announced this week.
It represented about 11% of all recoveries from the government health insurance program for low-income residents — often a prime target of fraud.
Medicaid: How can NJ seniors afford care if they're too rich for Medicaid, but still lack funds?
$1.1 billion in Medicaid payments recovered nationwide
About $1.1 billion in Medicaid payments was recovered nationwide in 2022. The scams are usually extremely lucrative. In February, a New Jersey man was indicted on charges of diverting almost $150 million in funds meant for Wisconsin nursing home residents to pay investors financing the construction of nursing homes in the Garden State.
There is a benefit to self-reporting in New Jersey. The comptroller is more likely to waive penalties and sanctions, offer longer repayment schedules and forgive interest payments.
“We strongly encourage providers receiving Medicaid funds to investigate, audit and report any overpayments, as the law requires," said Josh Lichtblau, director of the comptroller's Medicaid Fraud Division.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ recovers $73 million in improper Medicaid payments
