Sebelius: $4 Billion In Recouped Funds Is Proof Government Fraud-Fighting Is Working
Of the record amount of funds recaptured from health-care fraud cases, $2.86 billion will be funneled back into the Medicare trust fund.
The Washington Post: U.S. Recovers $4 Billion From Health-Care Fraud Cases
The government recaptured a record $4 billion last year from pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, doctors, nursing homes and other providers of care that defrauded federal health care programs, the Obama administration reported Monday (Goldstein, 1/24).
The Fiscal Times: Sebelius Wages War Against Fraud; Recoups $4 Billion
The federal government reclaimed more than $4 billion in payments in fiscal 2010 from people who tried to defraud Medicare and Medicaid, according to a report released jointly by the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services on Monday. Of that money, $2.86 billion is being funneled back into the Medicare Trust Fund. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius touted the $4 billion in recouped funds - the largest sum ever recovered in one year - as evidence that government programs to fight Medicare and Medicaid fraud are delivering high taxpayer return (Hirsch, 1/24).
Politico: Medicare Fraud-Busters' Star Trek Turn
The Justice Department estimated that a suspected ring of Armenian-American mobsters fraudulently billed Medicare for $163 million (Coughlin, 1/24).
Los Angeles Times: Blowing The Whistle On Drug Firms
But it wasn't filling prescriptions that made Ven-A-Care of the Florida Keys Inc. such a success. Tiny Ven-A-Care has developed a lucrative niche market: blowing the whistle on drug companies that overcharge Medicare and Medicaid - and collecting tens of millions of dollars in reward money (Zajac, 1/24).