Double Billing Exposed: VA and CMS Team Up to Recover $106M for Veterans
In a move aimed at protecting veterans and taxpayers alike, the Department of Veterans Affairs has partnered with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to tackle a long-overlooked problem: duplicate billing where providers submitted the same health care claims to both VA and Medicare. This effort uncovered a staggering $106 million in overpayments over six years — and the clean-up has officially begun.
What Happened?
From roughly seven years of billing data involving 5.9 million veterans enrolled in both VA health care and Medicare, the interagency review found providers were improperly claiming reimbursement from both systems for the same episode of care.
As a result, VA and CMS have agreed to issue repayment notices to healthcare providers who received these duplicate payments. This new data-sharing mechanism aims to close the gaps that previously allowed waste to slide unchecked.
What Leaders Are Saying …
“We are proud to implement this commonsense reform, which should have been instituted years ago … the money we save … will be much better spent helping VA and Medicare beneficiaries get the benefits they’ve earned.” ~ VA Secretary Doug Collins
“For too long, government programs have operated in silos … enabling improper payments to slip through the cracks.” ~ CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz
Why It Matters for Disabled Veterans …
- Ensuring Your Care Isn’t Costing Twice:
Disabled veterans enrolled in both systems often rely on third-party care. This initiative helps prevent providers from “double-dipping” on taxpayer dollars — ensuring more funds stay focused on serving you. - Accountability Where It’s Long Overdue:
For years, overlapping billing was possible only because VA and Medicare data sat in separate lanes. This partnership closes that loophole — and sends a message that waste won’t go unchallenged. - Faster Reinvestment of Recovered Funds:
The money reclaimed could be redirected back into programs critical to disabled vets — like claims processing, mental health care, and toxic exposure services.
What You Should Know …
- You’re not at fault: this issue isn’t something veterans caused.
- If you’ve received medical care covered by both VA and Medicare, monitor your statements — report unauthorized charges.
- This ongoing reform is a win for transparency and long-term service enhancements.
Final Thoughts: Joint Effort Marks a Watershed Moment …
This joint effort marks a watershed moment in veteran healthcare accountability. VA and CMS are finally speaking the same language, and that matters. Because when waste gets cleaned up, services improve. And that means disabled veterans get the care and benefits they’ve earned — without bureaucracy getting in the way.
Of course this has been going on for years and years. This is what fraud looks like. There is even more fraud on the part of the VA when they bill medicare and Veterans private insurance companies (like my Blue Cross) for treatment for service connected injuries.
Treatment for service connected injuries is to be paid for by the VA.
I blew the whistle on this years ago when the VA was billing my blue cross blue shield 300 to 500% more than they paid for aqua therapy for my service connected back and hips. they actually collected 200 to 300 % more than they paid the provider.
When I emailed and addressed this with Blue Cross (federal program) I was informed they do not assess the VA’s profit margins. when I responded to this, that blue cross should not have been billed in the first place since it was service connected, I got crickets.
I wrote a letter to the editor about this scam and the VA responded by disapproving further requests by multiple doctors for additional aqua therapy.
I used my blue cross to attend the aquatheray the VA disapproved for years and made the co-pays myself.
The VA’s clinical appeal process is also rigged but filed the appeal anyway and was wrongfully denied and I was supposedly represented by the VISN Patient advocate who never even discussed this with me.
Clinic Appeals are final and cannot be appealed through VBA.
The VA commits fraud every time it bills medicare and insurance companies for service connected conditions.
The VA will be committing fraud again today when I go see the Orthopedic surgeon for my now service connected knee.
The amount of double billing by providers described in this article Ben Pales in comparison to the dollar amount the VA rakes in for billing for service connected conditions.
Chicago Mike
Rhett J Puder was mentally ill and irrational. The VHA hires those kinds of people by the truck load. A degree doesn’t mean everything when you harbor bad philosophy and you got head problems out the ass.
VA has been a lawless fraud for 15 years. Character assassination, retaliation, denial of care…all this will continue even with community care. Community care doctors will recommend treatments and the VA will simply refuse to pay. Then in ten years they will reel veterans back in or sever the community care altogether after they’ve destroyed their reputation throughout the USA. This terrible system must be totally reformed or better yet completely done away with and rebuilt into something completely different.
Sometimes denial of care and retaliation leads to people leaving and/or dying. All we hear from VA though is that the place is always improving. So recognition that it’s a shit sandwich but without giving the details or specifying just what problems are being solved. You know why? Because they persist and there’s barely anything they can about it.
VHA Incompetence can sometimes resemble pure evil, and God knows these people have mental health problems and they’ve been left to run around like those on Pinocchio’s Donkey Island. They lie like Pinocchio too.
Exposed: Veterans Healthcare Administration for medical fraud, no pain pills or surgery leading to suicides, mass death, they should be sued out the asshole for every single death attributed to denial of care for medically necessary procedures. Folks, some of these people are lawless.