By reimbursing certain drug providers based on outdated pricing, Medicare has squandered millions of dollars that could have been saved if the recommendations of a government watchdog had been followed.

As reported by The Washington Examiner, the Office of the Inspector General for the Health and Human Services Dept. found that Medicare has continued to pay providers of infusion drugs, which are delivered through IV pumps, at higher prices than necessary. HHS is paying providers based on 2003 prices when the drugs were more expensive--this despite warnings from the IG, most recently in February, 2013.

“Medicare payment amounts for infusion drugs…substantially exceeded the estimated acquisition costs,” according to findings reported on the IG’s website.

The IG said that had its recommendations been implemented, $251 million would have been saved over an 18-month period.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) apparently ignored the IG when it proposed that the agency push legislation that would have brought the method of reimbursement for infusion drugs in line with the process for other pharmaceuticals. As an alternative, the IG recommended that the CMS employ competitive bidding to supply infusion drugs.

 “CMS partially concurred with the first recommendation, but has not taken steps toward seeking legislation,” The IG’s report said. “CMS concurred with the second recommendation but said subsequently that…infusion drugs will not be included in competitive bidding until at least 2017.”

So presumably the overpaying won’t stop anytime soon.