Current healthcare reform legislation includes provisions that would increase efforts to investigate Medicare and Medicaid fraud, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
This week Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and five other Democrats introduced legislation that would increase jail time for those convicted of healthcare fraud and would increase funds by $20 million annually to the government agencies investigating the fraud, according to the report.
Sen. Leahy urged other lawmakers at a hearing to "tackle the fraud that could undermine efforts to reduce the skyrocketing cost of healthcare," according to a report.
The United States loses around $60 billion annually, or nearly 10 percent of all healthcare spending, to healthcare fraud, according to the report.
Medicare, which spends $400 billion annually, reviews only 3 percent of claims and estimates that it spent $10 billion on improper claims during 2008, according the report.
In 2009, the Department of Health and Human Services collected $4 billion to recoup improper claims, according to the report. They also established a joint task force with the Department of Justice to focus on investigating fraud in areas, such as South Florida and Los Angeles, where fraud is more prevalent. HHS has requested $311 million, up from $198 million this fiscal year, to investigate fraud during the next fiscal year, according to the report.
Read the Wall Street Journal's report on healthcare fraud.
This week Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and five other Democrats introduced legislation that would increase jail time for those convicted of healthcare fraud and would increase funds by $20 million annually to the government agencies investigating the fraud, according to the report.
Sen. Leahy urged other lawmakers at a hearing to "tackle the fraud that could undermine efforts to reduce the skyrocketing cost of healthcare," according to a report.
The United States loses around $60 billion annually, or nearly 10 percent of all healthcare spending, to healthcare fraud, according to the report.
Medicare, which spends $400 billion annually, reviews only 3 percent of claims and estimates that it spent $10 billion on improper claims during 2008, according the report.
In 2009, the Department of Health and Human Services collected $4 billion to recoup improper claims, according to the report. They also established a joint task force with the Department of Justice to focus on investigating fraud in areas, such as South Florida and Los Angeles, where fraud is more prevalent. HHS has requested $311 million, up from $198 million this fiscal year, to investigate fraud during the next fiscal year, according to the report.
Read the Wall Street Journal's report on healthcare fraud.