CMS has released new statistics on the Medicare Fee-for-Service Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program, under which CMS contractors are tasked with detecting and correcting past improper Medicare payments. In the first three months of 2011 alone, RACs corrected $184.6 million in total payments, including $162 million in provider overpayments and $22.6 million in underpayments. This compares to a total of $92.3 million in corrections for all of FY 2010, of which $75.4 million were overpayments.   Since October 2009, the RAC program has collected $313.2 million in overpayments. Top overpayment issues identified by the RACs during FY 2010 through March 2011 include excessive ventilator hours, billing for extensive operating room procedures that are unrelated to the principal diagnosis, and improper Medicare payments for durable medical equipment (DME), prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies provided during an inpatient stay.