Medicare Wants Money Back They Say Was an Overpayment

Question:

Dear Steve,

After an auto accident was taken to a southwest Tennessee hospital. Hospital charged the other drivers insurance right. Ok. Somehow Medicare ended up paying for a portion of my care and is now demanding repayment. Also stating I can request a waiver (before 60 dys) and appeal their decision & calculated amount (within 120 dys). I do have a healthcare plan that has been in place for sometime. I have a Medicare card but I never use it and I didn’t give it the accident lawyers.

Can I be forced to repay Medicare or should I contact a lawyer and ask them to rectify this matter.

Mrs. Bailey

Answer:

Dear Mrs. Bailey,

The bottom line is if you actually received money you should not have, it will probably have to be repaid. The hospital or a provider would have billed Medicare and not the insurance lawyers.

I’d suggest you call Medicare to confirm exactly what they paid for and contact the hospital to see if they show they received that money or confirm you received that money from Medicare.

Once you can verify your hospital and provider bills have all been paid in full and you can confirm there was an overpayment, go ahead and refund it to Medicare.

If it clearly is an overpayment then this is the process they will follow for recoupment.

Here is information on the appeals process.

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