Health Care Reform Update: Fighting Health Care Fraud

No matter who is in control of the White House or Congress, one bipartisan activity that will continue in the coming years is the fight against health care fraud.  Both Democratic and Republican Administrations have supported a number of anti-fraud programs to identify criminal activities that hurt consumers and cost U.S. taxpayers dearly.   

Recently, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the launch of another round of initiatives to fight health care fraud, including hosting fraud summits in several cities.  A HHS press release published on November 5th explains “(t)he summits are part of a larger effort on behalf of the Obama Administration to root-out waste, fraud, and abuse within the U.S. health care system.”  In 2009, HHS reports that “anti-fraud efforts put $2.51 billion back in the Medicare Trust Fund resulting from civil recoveries, fines in criminal matters, and administrative recoveries.”

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