A glitch caused Medicare to accidentally double-bill approximately 411,000 clients nationwide, according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services.
The processing error affected customers who pay their Medicare premiums through Easy Pay. These beneficiaries had their premiums deducted twice from their bank accounts. A CMS spokesperson says the organization is working with the Treasury Department to have the deductions credited back to affected bank accounts as soon as possible.
So far, about 20% of the duplicate transactions have been reversed by clients' financial institutions, according to the CMS. Any deductions that still have not been returned as of Wednesday, September 25 will be reversed by the Treasury's Bureau of Fiscal Service. The Treasury has already begun to notify financial institutions.
The CMS advised any beneficiaries that are concerned with overdraft fees because of the duplicate deductions should contact their banks and ask that the fee be waived. They can call 1-800-MEDICARE to verify that a processing issue has occurred.
