Sen. Carper Cheers Administration Efforts to Reduce Medicare and Health Care Fraud; Record $4 Billion Recovered in 2010

WASHINGTON – Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) cheered today’s announcement by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and law enforcement representatives on the Obama Administration’s efforts to reduce Medicare and health care fraud. Earlier today, Sec. Sebelius and U.S. Associate Attorney General Thomas J. Perrelli announced a new report showing that the government’s health care fraud prevention and enforcement efforts recovered more than $4 billion in taxpayer dollars in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010. This is the highest annual amount ever recovered from people who attempted to defraud seniors and taxpayers. In addition, HHS today announced new rules authorized by the Affordable Care Act that will help the department work proactively to prevent and fight fraud, waste and abuse in Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

“The Obama Administration is making strong and serious strides to better protect scarce taxpayer dollars by combating Medicare and health care waste and fraud,” said Sen. Carper, Chair of the Senate subcommittee which oversees federal financial management. “Not only have federal law enforcement and local partners stepped up their efforts and tracked down more cases of Medicare fraud, but our health reform law has provided a host of new tools to aid these efforts and prevent waste and fraud from happening in the first place. I look forward to working with my colleagues and the Administration to support these efforts to ensure that taxpayer dollars are being used responsibly and in doing so better protect the Medicare Trust Fund.”

Next month, Sen. Carper will hold a hearing on the new tools to curb waste, fraud and abuse included in the Affordable Care Act.