GAO report: Medicare payment errors "are correctly estimated"

The US Government Accountability Office has released a report examining the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) methodology for estimated payment errors in the Medicare program. The CMS estimated that, in the fiscal year 2004, erroneous payments totalled $20.0 billion. The audit was carried out as the CMS prepared to introduce Medicare Part D, which covers drug prescripton plans for all US senior citizens (Marketletters passim).