The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report examining the extent to which CMS’s enrollment screening procedures are designed and implemented to prevent enrollment of ineligible or potentially fraudulent Medicare providers. The GAO identified weaknesses in CMS’s verification of provider practice location and physician licensure status that have allowed potentially ineligible providers and suppliers to enroll in Medicare. GAO recommends that CMS incorporate flags into its software to help identify potentially questionable practice locations, revise its 2014 guidance for verifying practice locations (which requires fewer verification techniques to verify a practice location), and collect additional license information.
