Electronic paydays for Medicare providers

Doctors who care for Medicare patients won’t be getting checks from the government anymore, at least not a paper check.

Doctors who care for Medicare patients won’t be getting checks from the government anymore, at least not a paper check.

The change is part of the effort to crack down on health care fraud.

Bucks County Democrat Congressman Patrick Murphy helped craft the provision which is part of the health care overhaul. It requires health providers to set up a bank account to receive their reimbursements electronically.

Murphy says one Medicare scheme in Miami bilked $100 million from the government before it was stopped.

Murphy: What you had was fraudulent health care providers that didn’t even have a store front property, didn’t have an office, they got a tangible check, then they cashed it at the check cashing store.

Sham doctors stole social security numbers from seniors then used that information to bill the Medicare.

Murphy says the new system will allow auditors to track payments and spot inconsistencies more easily.