This week, President Obama is expected to sign an executive order requiring all federal agencies to establish a Web site to track payments for Medicaid, Medicare and other government programs, HealthLeaders Media reports.
The Web site will be part of a larger government effort to curb fraud and waste in public programs.
In fiscal year 2009, the government spent about $54 billion on fraudulent payments for Medicaid, Medicare Advantage and Medicare fee-for-service, the White House said (Simmons, HealthLeaders Media, 11/18).
The sites aim to reduce such improper payments by allowing the public to monitor error rates and outstanding payments in Medicare and other programs.
The executive order also will designate a high-level official to lead the fraud reduction effort.
The Obama administration said it will impose penalties on entities that receive improper payments and fail to return the funds (Blesch, Modern Healthcare, 11/17).