Department of Health & Human Services

Under the prospective payment system (PPS), Medicare pays home health agencies (HHAs) for each 60 day episode of care that beneficiary receives, called a payment episode. During our audit period, if an HHA provided four or fewer visits in a payment episode, Medicare paid the HHA a standardized per...

In 2017, HHS declared the opioid epidemic in the United States a public health emergency. The misuse of and addiction to opioids-including prescription pain relievers, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl-is a serious national crisis that affects public health as well as social and...

HHS is one of the largest contracting agencies in the Federal Government and in fiscal year 2019 awarded contracts totaling approximately $27 billion, of which $7 billion related to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) contracts. Congress has expressed concerns about and the media has...

To receive Federal funding for child welfare services, States are required to have a plan for overseeing and coordinating health care services for any child in foster care placement, including medications prescribed for the children. Psychotropic and opioid medications are among those that may be...

Nutritional marasmus (diagnosis code E41) and unspecified severe protein-calorie malnutrition (diagnosis code E43) are two types of severe malnutrition. Previous OIG audits of severe malnutrition found that hospitals had incorrectly billed Medicare by using severe malnutrition diagnosis codes when...

This audit report is one of a series of OIG reports that addresses the identification, reporting, and investigation of incidents of potential abuse and neglect of our Nation's most vulnerable populations, including children, the elderly, and individuals with developmental disabilities. OIG is...

We have performed audits in several States in response to a congressional request concerning deaths and abuse of residents with developmental disabilities in group homes.Federal waivers permit States to furnish an array of home and community-based services to Medicaid beneficiaries with...

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), within HHS, requested that we audit Sharon Baptist Head Start (Sharon Baptist) after ACF identified instances of noncompliance with Federal requirements in a January 2014 monitoring review.Our objective was to determine whether Sharon Baptist...

With certain exceptions, self-administered drugs are typically not covered under Medicare Part B. However, in a November 2017 report, OIG found that CMS and a Federal court interpret relevant statute to require the inclusion of versions of drugs not generally covered under Part B in limited...

From July 1, 2016, through December 31, 2018 (audit period), Medicare paid approximately $4 billion for orthotic braces provided to Medicare beneficiaries. Prior OIG audits found that some suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) billed for orthotic...