Medicaid fraud stymies feds
By HME News Staff
Updated Mon June 30, 2003
WASHINGTON - The federal government recovers 20 times as much money from prosecuting Medicare fraud cases than from prosecuting Medicaid fraud cases, according to two studies released last week by the Taxpayers Against Fraud.
The studies found that in 2001, the federal government recovered more than $1 billion from Medicare fraud prosecution, compared with $43 million from Medicaid fraud prosecution. The recovery rate trend has been consistent over the last five years, the Hartford Courant reported. The fraud recovery discrepancies between Medicare and Medicaid appear to be associated with the fact that 39 states have not adopted a local version of the federal False Claims Act, which gives prosecutors broad power to combat fraud and protects whistleblowers who report Medicare and Medicaid fraud. HME
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