PRESIDENT CLINTON RELEASES REPORT ON SUCCESS OF FIGHT AGAINST January 22, 2000 In his radio address today, President Clinton will highlight the success of the Administration's efforts to combat Medicare fraud and will announce a new initiative to fortify those efforts. In the wake of this week's landmark recovery of over $480 million by the Justice Department in the criminal fraud case against a national Medicare provider, the White House today will release two reports documenting the success of the Administration's current anti-fraud efforts. The reports find that because of the Administration's work: (1) nearly $500 million was returned to the federal government during FY 1999, a 65 percent increase over the previous year, and (2) the inappropriate payment of approximately $5.3 billion in claims was prevented over the past year. The President today will also unveil a new $48 million investment to ensure a swift and coordinated response to suspected fraud, waste or abuse by Medicare contractors. MAJOR VICTORY THIS WEEK AGAINST FRAUDULENT MEDICARE PROVIDER. On Wednesday, the Department of Justice, together with the Department of Health and Human Services, announced that it had achieved a $486 million settlement with a national health provider that had been bilking the Medicare program. The company at fault had used Medicare and other government health insurance programs to pay for hundreds of needless tests and unnecessary nutritional therapies for patients. In addition, company customers received financial rewards, such as trips to Canada and lavish dinners, for sending patients to certain lab facilities for tests - a violation of anti-kickback statutes. The total settlement amount will be returned to the Federal government over two years. NEW REPORTS DOCUMENT SUCCESS OF ADMINISTRATION'S ANTI-FRAUD EFFORTS. Today, President Clinton will release a report, prepared jointly by the Departments of HHS and Justice, that documents the success of the Administration's current anti-fraud effort. He also will release a new report by HCFA documenting how program integrity activities have prevented inappropriate payments. Major findings of the reports include:
NEW BUDGET INITIATIVE TO FORTIFY EFFORTS AGAINST FRAUD BY MEDICARE CONTRACTORS. Although these reports demonstrate that the Administration's fraud, waste, and abuse prevention efforts are more effective than ever, more still needs to be done. While Medicare contractors serve as HCFA's front line of defense against fraud, waste, and abuse, too many contractors do not protect the program as they are required to, and this results in payment of billions in inappropriate claims. To address this problem, President Clinton today will unveil a new initiative to fight fraud, waste, and abuse in the Medicare program as part of his FY2001 budget, which includes new legislative authority and invests $48 million to:
LONGSTANDING COMMITMENT TO FIGHTING FRAUD, WASTE, AND ABUSE. The new steps the President will take today build on the Clinton-Gore Administration's longstanding commitment to crack down on fraud, waste, and abuse. Since 1993, the Administration's efforts have saved taxpayers more than $50 billion, with the number of individuals convicted of health care fraud increasing by more than 410 percent. The Administration has assigned more federal prosecutors and FBI agents to fight health care fraud than ever before. Since the passage of HIPAA which created a stable funding source for anti-fraud efforts nearly $1.6 billion has been returned to the Medicare Trust Fund. Back to State of the Union Background Materials Page
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