The OIG recently identified barriers to the effectiveness of the Medicare Drug Integrity Contractor (MEDIC) in performing Medicare Parts C and D benefit integrity activities between April 2010 and March 2011. For instance, the MEDIC reported that it does not have access to centralized Part C data, it lacks access to certain prescription drug event data, and there is no mechanism to recover payments from Part C or Part D plan sponsors when law enforcement agencies do not accept these cases for further action. Moreover, while the MEDIC has benefit integrity responsibility for both Medicare Parts C and D, the OIG determined that Part C investigations and case referrals represented a small percentage of its activities (only 8% of investigations and referrals involved Part C only; the majority were Part D only). The OIG makes a series of recommendations to, among other things: improve the data available to the MEDIC (including information from pharmacies, physicians, and pharmacy benefit managers); expand the ability of the MEDIC to recover payments from Part C and Part D plan sponsors; and require Part C and Part D plan sponsors to refer potential fraud and abuse incidents to the MEDIC. For details, see the full report, MEDIC Benefit Integrity Activities in Medicare Parts C and D.