The entire Part D program cost $121 billion in 2014, according to ProPublica. However, questionable billing practices at 1,400 pharmacies accounted for $2.3 billion in 2014, the first OIG report found. These practices included questionably high numbers of prescriptions per patient and high proportions of narcotic controlled substances. For example, half of the nation’s prescriptions for the expensive ointment Solarze, which is used for overexposure to the sun, came from the New York metropolitan area, according to the report.
The report also revealed Medicare spending on opioids skyrocketed 156 percent between 2006 and 2014 from $1.5 billion to $3.9 billion, and almost half of Medicare beneficiaries in Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Alaska filled a minimum of one narcotic prescription in 2014.
The OIG’s second report included a number of recommendations for Medicare, that include making voluntary fraud and abuse reporting mandatory for health plans, expanding reviews for questionable prescribing practices and restricting patients from doctor shopping, or seeking drugs from multiple physicians, according to the report.
ProPublica offers an online tool to compare physician’s prescribing patterns by specialty and state.
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