OIG: Medicare Could Have Saved $910M On Lab Tests

Medicare could have saved $910 million--38 percent--on lab test payments if it would have paid providers at the lowest established rate in each geographic area, according to a report from the Office of the Inspector General.

The study, aiming to figure out if Medicare is a prudent buyer of lab services, notes that no prior evaluations compared Medicare payment rates to those of other healthcare service payers.

The OIG collected data from 50 state Medicaid programs and three Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) plans that pay for fee-for-service lab tests in 2011. [...]