EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This final report points out alternatives that the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) could pursue to improve Medicare bill and claim processing over the long term. These alternatives--promoting electric billing, consolidating Medicare operations, and implementing an integrated bill and claim processing system--could enhance the economy, efficiency, effectiveness, and control over the processing of Medicare bills and claims. A primary component is the potential for significant savings in achieving paperless processing of bills and claims. We believe that achieving this goal could save up to about $111 million per year by Fiscal Year 2000.