Health Highlights: July 15, 2008

Just over $187 million has been paid to the auditors, and some $60 million more was reclaimed by providers who successfully challenged the auditors' findings. That left about $694 million that has been returned to Medicare, the newspaper said.

The CMMS said the auditors don't get paid if their findings are successfully appealed, and they are paid using the same formulas whether they identify Medicare overpayments or underpayments.

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Illinois Governor: Insurers Should Pay for Autism

Insurers in Illinois should be required to absorb the skyrocketing costs of diagnosing and treating autism, Gov. Rod Blagojevich proposed Sunday.

Under the proposal, insurance companies would be bound to pay up to $36,000 annually and cover an unlimited number of medical visits for autistic children until they turned age 21, theChicago Sun-Timesreported.

Some states set a higher monetary limit, but the Illinois proposal would amount to the most comprehensive guarantee for autistic children in the United States, Mike McRaith, insurance director of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, told the newspaper.

Some 26,000 state residents have been diagnosed with the mysterious neurologic disorder, he said. Currently, only people with policies from large-group insurers are covered in the state, theSun-Timessaid.

Blagojevich made his proposal under his power to rewrite legislation. The proposal would become law if three-fifths of the state House and Senate support it, according to the newspaper.