Overview
Overpayments are Medicare payments to a provider/supplier in excess of amounts due and payable under the statute and regulations. Once a determination of an overpayment has been made, the amount is considered a debt owed by the debtor to the United States Government and CGS must attempt recovery of the overpayment in accordance with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations. CMS requires CGS to request refunds on Non-MSP overpayments of $25 or more. If a supplier owes several small overpayments, each of which is less than $25, the total of the overpayments will be added together and a demand letter will be issued. The tolerance does not apply to MSP overpayments.
The purpose of Overpayment Recovery is to recover money overpaid in error to a Medicare beneficiary or provider. The funds can be recovered voluntarily from the beneficiary or supplier through a voluntary payment or through a demand letter.
There are two types of overpayments:
- Non-MSP – where Medicare fee-for-service is primary, and
- MSP – where Medicare fee-for-service is secondary
When CGS determines that a provider has been overpaid, we will issue an overpayment demand letter. The debtor has 30 days from the date of the demand letter to refund the contractor. If the overpayment is not paid within the timeframe specified in the initial demand letter, interest begins to accrue on the amount. If full payment is not received by the 40th day from the date of the initial demand letter, the recoupment process will begin in the form of an offset. Current and future payments will be offset until the overpayment is completely recouped. If you would prefer to refund the debt through the offset process, you can complete the Immediate Offset Request Form
.
If you disagree with the overpayment, you may file an appeal. Refer to the Part B Appeals/Redeterminations web page for more information.
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